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http://www.archive.org/details/worldinmiddleageOOkp 



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ORLD IN THE MIDDLE AGES: 



AN lllSTORKJAL GEOGRAPHY, 



ACCOUNTS OF THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT, THE INSTITUTIONS AND LITERATUllE, 
THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE NATIONS IN EUROPE, WESTERN ASIA, 
AND NORTHERN AFRICA, FROM THE CLOSE OF THE FOURTH 
TO THE MIDDLE OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 



By ADOLFHUS LOUIS KffiPPEN, 

PROFESSOR OF HISTORY AND GERMAN LITERATURE IN FRANKLIN AND MARSHALL COLLEGE, TENNSYLVAXIA. 



ACCOMPANIED BY COMPLETE HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL INDEXES, AND SIX COLORED MAPS FROM THE 
HISTORICAL ATLAS OF CHARLES SPRUNER, LL. D., CAPTAIN OF ENGINEERS IN THE KINGDOM OF BAVARIA. 




NEW-YORK: t. 
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 

3 4 6 & 3 4 8 BROADWAY. 

LONDON: 16 LITTLE BRITAIN. 



iM.DCCC.LIV. 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1854, 

By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York. 






' / 



^ -T 



1 
cf 






TO 



GEOKGE TICKNOK, 



//'■" 



L 



THE AUTHOR OF THE "HISTORY OF SPANISH LITERATURE, 
THE NOBLEST TRIRUTE EVER PAID BY A NEW LITERATURE TO AN OLD, 
AND A WORK THAT DOES AS MUCH HONOR TO THE LITERATURE IT ENRICHES AS TO THAT WHOSE 

TIME-TRIED TRIUMPHS IT WORTHILY RECORDS, 

IS, BY PERMISSION, MOST RESPECTFULLY AND GRATEFULLY 

DEDICATED. 



PREFACE. 



IN introducing a new Work to the Public, it is expect- 
ed that some account should be given of its incep- 
tion, design, scope, and prosecution. 

Whilst delivering a course of lectures two years 
since in Providence, on Mediaeval History, I found no 
geographical work in English Literatm-e, illustrating 
that period to which I could refer. This want suggested 
the present work. 

The Geography of the Ancient World presents no 
such deficiency, having been elucidated since the seven- 
teenth century by the master-minds of Cellarius, Clu- 
verius, Danville, and still more recently by Ken- 
nel, Mannert, Heeren, Uckert, and others. Much 
light has also been thrown on the remote ages of civili- 
zation by the late philological discoveries in Egypt and 
Persia, and the excavations of Nineveh. 

Yet the no less important period of the Middle 
Ages, though so thoroughly investigated by the modern 
Historian, has stiU remained comparatively neglected by 
the Geographer. 

Mediaeval Atlases have been pubhshed by C. Kruse 
(translated into French by Felix Ansart) and by Charles 
Spruner ; but these being defective in letter-press, con- 
taining only scanty notes, and mere dry, historical 
tables, leave the student to depend on his own re- 
sources in the explanation of the maps. 

Thus no general comprehensive Geography, embra- 
cing the mediaeval times down to the close of the 
fifteenth century, has yet appeared to supply the want 
which must be felt by every student of Gibbon, Hal- 
lam, Sismondi, Guizot, and the other numerous writers 
treating of that era. 

It occurred to me, therefore, that my collectanea, 
made during my long residence in Italy and Greece, 
together with my notes of travel in the East — partly em- 
bodied in my Providence Lectures — might furnish me 
with ample materials for the composition of a work 
which would supply, at least in part, the wants of the 
student of Mediseval History. 

Having met with encouragement from my pubhsh- 
ers, the idea has been carried out, and I now offer to 
the public the " World in the Middle Ages." 

I have attempted to present an accurate geographi- 
cal description of the world during the different periods 
of time from the ultimate division of the Eoman Em- 
pire at the death of Theodosius the Great, a.d. 395, 
down to the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman 
Turks in the East, and the discovery of America in the 
West. 

That the dry details of Geography might not be- 
come tedious, I have occasionally introduced personal 



sketches, and notices of mediasval institutions, with side- 
glances at the rehgions, languages, and hteratures of the 
different nations. y 

I have endeavored likewise to give that prominence 
to the Scandinavians, the Sclavonians, Tartars, and 
other Eastern tribes which their important influence on 
history demands ; but which hitherto has been denied 
them. 

In the Geography of Ecclesiastical History, I have 
followed Kev. John E. Wiltsch. I have entered into 
more than usual detail on the Byzantine Empire, 
Greece, and the Eastern States, both with the hope of 
illustrating the brilliant pages of Gibbon and the 
Chroniclers of the Crusades ; and in view of the impor- 
tant part which these Countries are about to act in the 
present crisis that seems to threaten the entire political 
system of Europe. 

I am indebted for the selection of my maps, to Pro- 
fessor George W. Greene's translation of Dr. Spruner's 
great Historical Atlas. 

For my authorities, I refer the reader to the foot- 
notes, and the list of authors on the closing page of the 
Work. I have also carefully compiled Historical and 
Geographical Indices, referring to the number of the 
paragraph in every instance where the name occurs. 

I would ask the kind forbearance of the Public with 
regard to some occasional foreign expressions or turns 
of thought, which possibly may betray the author as a 
Dane. 

If this, my first attempt in the field of Historical 
Geography, should be favorably received by the Public, 
I might perhaps find myself emboldened to undertake 
the still more arduous task of preparing an Historical 
Geography of the Modern World, uniform with the pre- 
sent. 

This would embrace, not only the geographical 
changes and political revolutions of modern Europe 
during the last three centuries, but likewise the highly 
important Colonial Geography of Asia, Africa, and Ame- 
rica. Especial attention would then be devoted to the 
rise, progress, emancipation, and gigantic development 
of the Kepublic of the United States. 

The materials for such an undertaking are in part 
collected, the plan laid down, the maps selected, and I 
only await the encouragement of the Literary Eepubhc 
to carry my ideas into execution. 



The Author. 



Franklin and Marshall College, 

Lancaster, Pa., ^j)n7 Wth, 1854. 



CONTENTS. 



Paoe 



CHAPTER I. 



Introductory Remarks on Medieval Geography ; the Great Histo- 
rico-Geographioal Divisions of that era. 



General Remarks, § 1 . 

General division of Mediaeval Geography, 



CHAPTER IL 



!2 . 



I. The Roman Empire. Its Political Geography under Ar- 

oadius and Honorius, §§ 3-5. 
Limits and Ditision, §§ 3-5 
I. The Eastern Empire, §§ 6-40 

Limits, Capital, and Division, §§ i 

Prsefecture of the Orient §§ 9-31 

Prsefecturfi of Illyria, §§ 32-40 
iL The "Western Empire, §§41-73 

Boundaries, Capitals, and Division, §§ 41-43 

Prsefecture of Italy, §§ 44-62 

Prsefecture of the Gauls, §§ 63-73 

II. The World of the Barbarians at the Close of the 

Fourth Century ..... 

General Division, §74 

I. Northern Countries, §§ 75-93 

A. Germania, §§ 76-84 .... 

B. Scandinavia, §§ 85-86 .... 

C. Empire of the Huns. Sarmatia and Scythia, 

§§87-93 . . . . . 

II. Independent Countries in Asia, § 94, 96 

in. Barbarian States in Africa, § 97 . . . 



CHAPTER in. 

Europe and the Adjacent Parts of Africa ; their Political 
Geography at the Accession of Justinian L, a. d. 527. 

General Division, § 98 

I. Northern Europe, §§ 99-108 

I. British Islands, §§ 99-104 

n. Independent Germany, § 105 

UL Scandinavia, § 106 

IV. Slavia, § 107 . 

V. Kingdom of the Bulgarians, § 108 

VI. Kingdom of the Uturgurian Huns, § 109 

II. Central Europe, §§ 109-122 . 

viL Kingdoms of the Franks, § 109, 

Conquests of Clovis, a. d. 486, 511, §§ 110-112 
Division of the Prankish Empire among the Me- 
rovingian Princes, §§ 113-118 
viii. Kingdom of the Burgundians, § 119 

IX. Kingdom of the Thuringians, § 120 

X. Kingdom of the Longobards, § 121 

XI. Kingdom of the Gepidae, § 122 . 

in. Southern Europe and the adjacent parts of Asia and 
Afiica, §§ 123-140 . . . . 



9 
13 
14 
14 
14 
17 

20 
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20 
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23 

24 
25 
26 



26 

27 
27 
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31 
32 
32 
32 
32 

33 



XIL 

xin. 

XIV. 
XV. 
SVL 



Paob 
33 
33 
33 
35 

35 



Kingdom of the Visigoths, §§123-125 . 
Kingdom of the Suevi, § 126 
Kingdom of the Ostrogoths, §§ 127-133 
Kingdom of the Vandals, § 134 

Eastern Roman Empire under Justinian I, §§ 135- 
140 . 

CHAPTER IV. 

Europe ; its Politicai Geography after the Invasion of the 

Avars and Longobards in the Second Half Of the 

Sixth Century, § 141, 153 .... 36 

I. Northern Europe, §§ 141-144 . . . . 36 

British Islands, §§ 141-143 .... 36 

Scandinavia, § 144 ..... 37 

II. Central Europe, §§ 145-150 . . . .37 

Kingdom of the Franks, §§145-148 ... 37 

Empire of the Avars, §] 49 .... 38 

Independent Germany, Finns, and Selavonians, § 150 . 38 

HI. Southern Europe, §§ 151-153 .... 38 

Spanish Peninsula, § 151 . . . . 38 

Kingdom of the Lombards, § 152 ... 38 

Byzantine Empire, § 153 ..... 39 

CHAPTER V. 

Europe, Western and Central Asia and Northern Africa ; 
their Political Geography during the Reigns of 
Charlemagne, a. d. 768-814, and of the Haroun- 
ar-Rasohid, the Abbasid Caliph of Bagdad, a. d. 
786-809. 

I. Empire of Charlemagne . . . . .30 

I. Extent of the Prankish Kingdom on the death of 

Pepin-le-Bref, a. d. 768, §§ 154-156 . . 39 

L Kingdom of Neustria, §§157-161 . . 40 

u. Kingdom of Austrasia, §§ 162-166 . . 41 

u. The Western Empire at the death of Charlemagne, 

A. D. 814, §§ 167-169 . . ? . 41 

A. Provinces of the Empire, §§170-187 . . 43 

B. Tributary Nations, §§ 188-189 ... 45 

II. Independent European States about a. d. 800 . . 46 

A. The Northmen, § 190 . . . . 46 

B. Sclavonic and Turco-Tartar Nations in Eastern 

Europe, §§ 191-193 .... 47 

IIL The Byzantine Empire, § 194 . . .47 

Selavonian Settlements within its frontiers, §§ 195- 

196 ...... 47 

IV. The Mohammedan World in the Period of its Highest De- 
velopment UNDER Haroun-ar-Raschid, §§ 197-198 . 48 

A. Caliphate of the Abbasids in Bagdad, §§ 199- 

212 . . .... 48 

Extent, Boundaries, and Division, §§ 197-198 . 49 

B. Kingdom of the Aglabids in Kairouan, §213 . 51 

C. Kingdom of the Edrisids in Morocco, § 214 . 52 

D. Emirate of Cordova, §§215-216 . . .52 



Independent Christian States in Spain about a. d. 800, 
§217 . 



52 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Europe, Western Asia, and Northern Africa ; their Political 

' GeOGKAPHT at the DE.iTH OF THE EjITEROR OtHO THE 

GrejVT, a. d. 973. 

General Remarks, § 218 . . . 

r. Northern Europe. 

I. Kingdom of Ireland, §219 
u. Kingdom of Scotland, § 220 . 
iiL Kingdom of England, § 221 

IV. Kingdom of Denmark, § 222 . 

V. Kingdom of Norway, §§ 232-224 

VI. Kingdom of Sweden, § 225 
vn. Grand Duchy of Russia, §§ 226-227 

XL Central Europe. 

Dismemberment of the Carlovingian Empire, § 228 
vni. Kingdomof France, §§229-245 
IX. Kingdom of Burgundy, § 246 
X. Romano-Germanic Empire, §§ 247-252 
XI. Kingdom of the Hungarians, § 253 
xn. Chanate of the Petcheneges, § 254 

III. Southern Europe. 

xin. Kingdom of Leon, § 255 .... 

xiv. County of Castile, § 256 .... 

XV. Kingdom of Navarra, § 257 .... 
XVI. Caliphate of Cordova, § 258 . . . . 

XVII. Emirate of Sicily, Sardinia, and the smaller islands, 

§259 . 
xvm. Kingdom of Croatia, § 260 
XIX Byzantine Empire, §§ 261-263 . • . . 

Extent, Imperial Capital, Court Administration and 
Division of the Provinces, §§ 261-263 

A. Themes of the Byzantine Empire in Asia Minor, 

§§264-268 . . . . . 

B. Themes in Europe, §§ 269-270 . 

Duoatus Beneventi, § 271 
Ducatus Venetiae, §§ 272-273 

IV. The Mohammedan World in Asia and Africa; its 

Political Geography during the Tenth Century 
UNTIL the Foundation of the Empire of the Seldju- 
KiAN Turks, a. d. 809-1028. 
Dismemberment of the Arabian Empire, § 274 . 

A. Caliphate of the Abbasids in Bagdad, § 274 

B. Mohammedan Dynasties in Central Asia, §§ 275-277 

C. Mohammedan Dynasties in Syria, § 278 

D. Sects of Mohammedan Heretics, §279 

E. Mohammedan Dynasties in Africa, § 280 



CHAPTER VII. 

Europe, AVesteen Asia, and Northern Africa ; their PoLrriCAL 
Geography and Ethnology during the Times of 
the CRUS.iDES, A. D. 1096, 1291. 
Condition of the Christian and Mohammedan 

World before the First Crusade. 
Division, § 281 . . . . . 

I. Northern Europe between 973 and 1096. 

Empire of Canute the Great, a. d. 1016-1035, 
§282 . 
I. Kingdom of Ireland, § 283 
n. Kingdom of Scotland, §§ 284-286 
in. Kingdom of England, §§ 287-291 
IV. Kingdom of Denmark, §§ 292-294 
V. Kingdom of Slavia, or Vendland, § 295 
VL Kingdom of Norway, §§ 296-300 
vu. Kingdom of Sweden, § 301 
viiL Grand Duchy of Russia, §§ 302-305 . 

II. Central Europe between 973 and 1096. 

IX. Kingdom of France, §§ 306-808 

X The Romano-Germanic Empire, §§ 309-311 

XI. Kingdom of Poland, §§312-313 

xn. Kingdom of Hungaiy, § 314 

xiri. Clianate of ihe Uzi ninl Kumani, § 315 



Page 



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54 

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57 

58 
59 
61 
62 
66 
67 

67 
68 
68 
68 

69 
69 
70 

69 

72 
73 
75 
75 



III. 



Southern Europe between 973 and 1096. 



XIV. Kingdoms of Leon and Castile, §§ 316-317 

XV. Kingdom of Aragon and Navarra, §§ 318-319 

xvL State of Valencia, § 320 

XVII. Norman Duchy of Apulia and Calabria, and the 

Grand County of Sicily, §§ 321-322 

xvin. Italian Republics, § 323 . . . . 

xrs. Byzantiue Empire, §§ 324-325 

The Mohammedan World during the Eleventh Century. 
IV. Western Asia. 

Conquests and States of the Turks, § 326 
XX. Seldjukian Sultanate of Rum, § 327 
XXL Sultanates of the Ortokids, § 328 
xxn. Atabeks in Al-'Djesirah and Persia, § 329 
xxnL Seldjukian Principalities in Syria, § 330 



V. 



Northern Africa and Southern Spain. 



Principal States, § 331 . 
xxrv. Caliphate of the Fatimids in Egypt, § 332 
XXV. Kingdom of Kalrouan, § 383 . . . 

xxvL Empire of the Almorvids in AI-Magreb and Spain, 
§ 334 . 



CHAPTER VIII. 

The Orient ; its Political Geography and Ethnology during 
THE Times of the Crusades. 

A. Kingdoms and Princtpalities founded by the Crusaders, 

BETWEEN A. D. 1096 AND 1291 (1310). 

Historical Remarks and General Division, §§ 335-336, 

I. Kingdom of Jerusalem, §§ 337-344 

n. County of Tripolis, § 345 

ffl. Principality of Antioch, § 346 . 

IV. County of Edessa, §§ 347-348 . 

V. Kingdom of Armenia, § 349 

VL Kingdom of Cyprus, § 350 

vn. Latin Empire of Romania, §§ 351-353 

TOL Kingdom of Saloniki (Macedonia), § 354 

rs. Duchy of Athens and Boeotia, § 355 . 

X. Principality of Achaia and the Morea, §§ 356-358 

XL Oriental Conquests of Venice, § 359 . 

Small Dynasties of the Ionian Islands, § 360 

XII. Duchy of Naxos or of the Archipelago, § 361 

xuL Possessions of the Military Order of the Hospital of 
Saint John, § 362 . . . 

B. Mohammedan and Slavo-Grecian States during the Cru- 

sades. 
General Remarks and Division, § 363 

L State of the Assassins, § 364 .... 
IL Empire of the Euybids and the Mamluke Sultans, 
§§365-366 . . . . . 

HI. Wallacho-Bulgarian Kingdom, § 367 
IV. Kingdom of Servia, §§368-869 
V. Greek Empire of Nicaja and Constantinople, § 370 
Republic of Genoa and her Colonies in the 
^gean and the Black Sea, § 371 
VL Despotate of Epirus, § 372 . . . 

vn. Duchy of Great Wallachia, § 373 
vin. Grand Comnenian Empire of Trebizond, § 374 



CHAPTER IX. 

Europe ; its Political Geography and Internal Condition dur- 
ing the Period of the Crusades, a. d. 1100-1800. 



Page 

97 
98 



99 
101 
101 



102 
103 
104 
104 
104 



104 
105 
105 

105 



IIL 
IV. 



General Remarks, § 375 
Kingdom of Denmark, §§376-378 
Territories of the Teutonic Order in Prussia and 
Livonia, §§ 379-383 . . . • 

Grand-Duclijr of Lithuania, § 384 
Empire of the Mongols, § 885 . . . • 

Kingdom of France under Philip August and Phi- 
lip le Bel, A. D. 1180-1310, §§ 386-390 



106 

106 
110 
110 
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112 
112 
113 
114 
114 
115 
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118 
118 

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119 
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119 
120 
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121 
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122 
123 

125 
126 

127 

127 



CONTENTS. 



Ecclesiastical Division of France after the Crusades 
against the Eeformers in Aquitaine, §§ 390- 
393 ..... . 

VI. Romano-Germanic Empire under the Dynasty of 
the Hohenstaufens, a. d. 1138-1268 . 

A. Germany, 1328-12'73, §§ 394, 404 . 

B. Italy, A. D. 1100-1300, §§405-420 . 

vn Supremacy of the Romish See under Pope Innocent 
III., §§ 421-422 .... 

vni. Anjou Dynasty in Naples, §§ 423-424 , 

CHAPTER X. 
Europe, Westekn Asia, and Noethekn Ajeica ; their Political 

GEOGRAPHTf FROM THE ClOSE OF THE ThIBTEENTH CeN- 
TURT TO THE MlDDLE OF THE FIFTEENTH, A. D. 1300- 
1453. 

General Remarks and Division, §§ 425-428 . 

I. Northern Europe between 1300 and 1453. 

L Kingdom of England and Ireland, §§429-434 

n. Kingdom of Scotland, §§ 435-437 
in. Calmarian Union of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, 

A. D. 1397-1523, §§438-545 . 
rv. Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania, §§ 445^55 

V. Grand Duchy of Moscow, §§ 456-460 . 

II. Central Europe between 1300 and 1453. 

VI. Kingdom of France during the wars with England, 
A. d. 1360-1453. 

Historical Remarks, §§461-462 . 
I. France at the time of the treaty of Bretig- 

ny, A. D. 1360, §§463-475 
IL France at the death of Charles V., a. d, 

1380, §§ 476-477 
in. France at the arrival of Jeanne d'Arc to 
the siege of Orleans, a. d. 1429, 
§§478-486 .... 
' IV. France after the expulsion of the English, 
A. D. 1453, § 487 
Royal Domains in 1453, §§ 488-493 . 
Domains of the Great Feudatories, §§ 494-509 
Ecclesiastical Division of France, § 510 
Romano-Germanic Eoipire from the downfall of the 
Souabian Dynasty, a. d. 1252, to the close 
of the middle ages. 
Germany under the Luxemburgian, Bavarian, 

and Austrian Dynasties, §§ 511-512 
Electorates, §§ 513-521 . 
Austrian Territories and the Duchies, §§ 522- 

535 . . . . . 

Principalities, §§ 536-537 
Counties, §§ 538-542 
The Church, § 543 
Free Imperial Cities. 

A. Souabian Confederacy, § 544 . 

B. Hanseatic League, §§ 545-546 
German Constitution under Maximilian I., § 547 

Helvetian Confederacy of the Thirteen Cantons, 

§§548-554 ..... 
Kingdom of Hungary. 

Dynasties and Constitution, § 555 

A. Hungary Proper, §§ 556-562 . 

B. Dependencies of the Hungarian Empire in 
the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, § 563 

1. Kingdom of Galioia, § 563 
n. Kingdom of Croatia and Dalmatia, § 563 
in. Republic of Ragusa, § 564 
IV. Kingdom of Rama (Bosnia), § 565 
v. Kingdom of Rascia (Servia), § 566-567 
TL Kingdom of Bulgaria, §§ 568-569 
vn. Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia, 
§570 . 

Ecclesiastical Division of Hungary, §§ 571-672 



1. 
n. 

m. 



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141 



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148 
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18t 


§§ 578- 






191 




191 




192 




193 




193 



HI. Southern Europe between 1300 and 1492. 

X. Kingdom of Portugal and Algarve 

Historical Remarks, §573 
Moorish Possessions, §§ 574—577 
Constitution and Internal Government, 
579 . 

A. Kingdom of Portugal, §§580-581 

B. Kingdom of Algarve, §§ 582-583 . 
Nobility, § 584 
Ecclesiastical Division, §585 
Portuguese Discoveries and Colonies in the Atlan- 
tic, §586 . . . 

XI. Kingdom of Castile and Leon. 

Conquests from the Moors and Internal Rela- 
tions, § 587 . . . . . 
Provinces, Court, and Government, <fec., §§ 588-592 
Ecclesiastical Division, § 593 . 

XII. Kingdom of Aragon 

Conquests, Constitution, and Provinces, §§ 594- 
599 .... . 

L Kingdom of Aragon Proper, § 597 . 
u. Principality of Catalonia, § 597 
nL Kingdom of Valencia, § 598 . 
IV. Kingdom of Mallorca, § 598 . 
V. Kingdom of Sicily and Sardinia, §599 
Ecclesiastical Division, § 600 

XIII. Kingdom of Navarra. 

Extent, Government, and Provinces, §§ 601-602 

XIV. Mohammedan Kingdom of Granada. 

Extent, Government, and Provinces, §§ 603-604 

XV. Italian Principalities and Republics. 

Historical Remarks, § 606 

States of Northern Italy, §§ 607-611 

States of Central Italy, § 012 

svL Papal State, § 613 

XVII. Kingdom of Naples. 

Angevin and Aragonian Dynasties, § 614 . 
Cities and Historical Sites, § 6I5 
Ecclesiastical Division of Italy, §§ 616-617 
xvm. Prankish Principalities in Greece, §§ 618-619 
L Duchy of Athens, § 620 
n. Duchy of Leuoas, § 621 
in. Principality of Achaia (Morea), § 621 
IV. Duchy of Naxos, § 622 
V. Genoese Lordships on the ^gean Islands, 

§622 . 
VI. Order of Saint .lohn on Rhodes, § 623 
Kingdom of Albania, § 624 
XIX. Byzantine Empire in 1450, § 625 
XX. Grand Comnenian Empire of Trebizond, § 626 
sxi. Ottoman Empire. 

Historical Remarks, § 627 ... 

Extent and Provinces, §§ 628-635 

I. Ottoman Possessions in Asia, §§ 628-631 
II. Ottoman Possessions in Europe, §§ 632-636 
xxiL Mongol Empire of Tamerlane. 

Extent of the Mongol Conquests, § 636 
xxiiL Sultanate of the Mamlukes, §§ 640-641 
Mohammedan Dynasties in Al-Magreb . 
General Remarks, § 642 



xxrv. 

XXV. 
XXVI. 



Kingdom of Tunis, § 643 
Kingdom of Tlemsen, § 644 
Kingdom of Fez and Morocco. 
Dynasties, Extent, and Provinces, 



193 



193 
194 

195 



196 
197 
197 
197 
197 
198 
198 

198 

199 

200 
201 
202 

202 

202 
203 
208 

203 
203 
204 
204 
204 

204 
206 
205 
205 
206 

206 
207 

207 
208 

209 



Additions to §§ 226, 266, 489, 449, 646 

List of Authors 

Historical Index 

Geographical Index 

Corrections 



. 


211 


■ 


211 


, 


211 


• 


211 


15-646 


212 


. 


213 




214 


. 


215 




221 




232 



HISTOmCAL GEOGEAPHY OF THE MIDDLE AGES. 



^ 4» ^ > * ► ^ 



CHAPTER I. 

GENEEAL EEMAEKS ON MEDIEVAL GEOGRAPHY ; THE 
GREAT HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL DIVISIONS 
OF THAT PERIOD. 

1. General Remarks. — The Middle Age is the period dur- 
ing which nearly all the states, at the present day figuring on 
the world's stage, had their origin and development. The 
study of the political geography of those times, is therefore of 
the highest importance to the student of universal history, in 
order that he may fully understand and bring before his 
mind's eye, as it were, the feudal institutions and divisions, 
the relations of the nations to one another, and the successive 
changes by revolutions and conquests which took place in 
every part of the old world. But the details of such an his- 
torical geography, in which we should attempt to follow up 
every temporary change, extension or diminution of territory, 
in the single states and nations, would not only be immense 
and difficult to combine, but we would often be in want of the 
necessary materials. From the chroniclers of those remote 
times, we obtain but scanty and very imperfect information ; 
they were themselves deficient in the most simple geographical 
knowledge ; the few data, which they furnish here and there, 
are often erroneous or uncertain, mostly full of wonders and 
superstitions from the hearsay repetitions of credulous travel- 
lers, pilgrims or crusaders. Sometimes their reports disagree 
with the physical geography of the countries, or are contra- 
dicted by the relations of other writers of the same time. 

We shall therefore limit our manual of medieval geogra- 
phy, to a general description of the political position of Eu- 
rope, and the adjacent parts of western Asia and northern 
Africa, during eight of the most important periods of universal 
history, between the fourth and the sixteenth centuries, which 
are illustrated by the annexed six general historical maps. 

2. General Division op Medieval Geography. 

Period I. — The political geography of the Roman Em- 
pire, after its final division into eastern and western Rome, be- 
tween the emperors Arcadius and Honorius in a. d. 395. It 
exhibits, likewise, the geographical and ethnographical posi- 
tion of all the diiferent Barlarian nations of the north and 
east, towards the closeof the fourth century, immediately before 



the beginning of the great migration, the successive develop- 
ment of which forms, as it were, the separate periods of medie- 
val geography. 

Period II. — The political geography of Europe and the 
adjacent parts of Asia and Africa at the beginning of the sixth 
century, before the accession of Justinian I. in a. d. 527. It 
presents the results of the first period of the great migration 
of the northern nations, and their settlements in the provinces 
of the then no longer existing western Roman empire. 

Period III. — The political geography of Europe towards 
the close of the sixth century, after the conquest of central 
Europe by the Avars, and of Italy by the Lombards, forming 
the termination of the second period of the great migrations 
from the north and the east. 

Period IV. — The political geography of Europe, western 
and central Asia, and northern Africa, at the beginning of the 
ninth century during the reign of Charlemagne, and the 
highest development of the Saracenic Empire under the 
Abbasid Caliphs of Bagdad and the Ommiyad Emirs of 
Cordova. 

Period V. — The political geography of all the states in 
Europe, western Asia and northern Africa, at the death of the 
Emperor Otho the Great, about a. d. 973, at the time of the 
final constitution and consolidation of nearly all the great Eu- 
ropean states, which later take a prominent part in the politi- 
cal events of Europe. 

Period VI. — The political geography of the old world, 
during the times of the Crusades, from the close of the 
eleventh to the beginning of the fourteenth century. 

Pef>,iod VII. — The political geography of Europe and 
Asia towards the close of the fourteenth century, at the time 
of the feudal wars between the English and French Crowns, 
the progress of the Ottoman Turks, and the widest extent 
of the Mongol empire of Tamerlane. 

Period VIII. — The political geography of Europe and 
western Asia towards the close of the fifteenth century, after 
the destruction of the Byzantine Empire in a. d. 1453, the 
reorganization of the German Empire by Maximilian, the 
extinction of the Moorish Kingdom of Granada and the 
discovery of America in a. d. 1492. 

These eight general periods are delineated in the accom- 
panying Atlas of six historical maps. The 1st and 2d Pe- 



EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE. 



riods are each represented iu their proper maps. The 3d 
Period embraces the second and the third maps. The 4th, 
5th, and 6th Periods have each their own maps, while for 
the last two Periods, the 7th and 8th, one general map, illus- 
trating the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, was thought 
sufficient. 

In order to facilitate the general survey, and the compari- 
son of one map with another, we have carefully given the same 
color to all the leading nations in the different succeeding 
periods. Thus, for instance, the student will find crimson 
throughout all the maps for the Greek or Byzantine empire ; 
yellow for all the Germanic and Scandinavian nations ; violet 
as a general color for the Slavic or Sclavonian tribes ; cla7k 
green for the Chudish or Finnish races ; blue for the Saracens 
or Arabs ; sea green for the Huns ; orange for the Chazars, 
and minium red for their Tartar brothers, the Turks. Simi- 
lar modifications of color go through all the maps to indicate 
the subdivisions of Britons, Scots, Picts, Anglo-Saxons, Danes, 
Swedes, and others. In the single maps will be found only 
those divisions, cities, battle-fields, &c., which belong to the 
period reviewed ; a few names have unhappily been left out, 
either by the inattention of the draughtsman, or the want of 
space, but they will be mentioned, and their position fixed in 
the text of our manual. Only the most important mountain 
chains, dividing the countries, have been given, because the 
complete detail of physical geography would have rendered the 
names less distinct on maps of so small a scale, and the stu- 
dent is therefore requested to compare our historical maps 
with some accurate maps of the common modern geography. 
Finally, we have been particularly careful to give the ancient 
Greek, Roman, Arabic or Barbaric names of countries, cities, 
mountains, rivers, exactly as they were used at the time, with 
their modern name, affixed, and to follow up the progressing 
changes faithfully, during every period of the middle ages, 
in order to accustom the attentive student to the gradual 
formation of so many names, the etymology of which, would 
otherwise be difficult to understand. For the same reason we 
have attempted to enliven our geographical survey by some 
few characteristic sketches of the different nationalities, Scandi- 
navian, Sclavonian, and others, and we have paid the most care- 
ful attention to the chronological accuracy of the dates given, that 
our essay on political geography might serve at the same time, 
the purposes of an historical Guide through the maze of the 
middle ages. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE ROMAN EMPIEE. 

ITS POLITICAL GEOGEAPHY UNDER AECADIUS AND 
SONOBIUS. 

THE WORLD OF THE BARBARIANS. 

ITS GEOGRAPHICAL AND ETHNOGRAPHICAL DIVISIONS 
BEFORE THE GREAT INVASION, A. D. 376. ' 

§ I. THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 

3. Limits. — "We present in this map the extent of the Ro- 
man empire in the course of the fourth century. At the death 
of Theodosius, in the year 395 of our era, it still had nearly the 
same frontiers as under Augustus, about 14 b. c. The con- 
quests of Trajan, between a. d. 103-11 6, extended the empire be- 
yond the Danube by the subjugation of Dacici (the present Tran- 
sylvania, M()l<lavia,nnd Wallachia). In the cast the Romans had 



taken possession of the northern part of Media, Armenia, all 
Assyria, Babylonia, and Arabia Petrcea, and they had com- 
mercial establishments and garrisons along the Red Sea, as 
far as Muza (Mocha), and Atliana (Aden), on the Arabian 
coast. Yet these brilliant acquisitions were already given up 
by the peaceable Hadrian; and the Syrian desert, the Eu- 
phrates, the upper Tigris, Mount Taurus, and Mount Caucasus 
remained henceforth the farthest eastern frontier of the empire, 
against the Parthians and New Persians. Thus the events of 
the time had proved the wisdom of Theodosius, who gave the 
prudent advice to his successors never to exceed those limits, 
which it seemed that nature herself had assigned for the Ro- 
man sway :-^on the north they were Mount Caucasus, the 
Pontus Euxinus or Black Sea, the Danube, the Rhine, the 
North Sea, and, in the island of Britain, the wall of Hadrian 
— the Picts' wall — extending from the Tyne across to the 
bay of Solway, near Carlisle. The waves of the Atlantic 
secured the west, and the burning sands of the great Li- 
byan desert, the southern borders of the empire. But these 
immense frontier-lines had already been invaded by the Bar- 
barians in the north : a great part of Gaul lay in ruins, and 
we shall, in another place, indicate the settlements which 
the warlike tribes had obtained within the bosom of the em- 
pire itself. 

4. Division. — At an earlier period the Roman state had 
been divided into Senatorial and Imperial provinces. With 
Diocletian, in a. d. 285, begins the time of divisions: first,into 
tetrarchies, then, under Constantino, into dioceses with different 
modifications, until, at the decease of Theodosius, the final 
separation into an Eastern and Western empire becomes de- 
finitive, and continues until the overthrow of western Rome in 
A. D. 476. 

5. Subdivisions. — Each of the two empires was divided 
into PrcBfectures, governed by prsetorial praefects nominated by 
the emperor. Every one of these prsefectures was again subdi- 
vided into dioceses — dia^ceses — under vicars — vicarii — or vice- 
priefects, who received their orders from the prsefects. The dio- 
ceses had again their provinces — provincial — and their regions 
— regiones — all according to their importance or position, and 
were ruled by proconsuls, consulars, presidents or correctors. 
Constantinople and Rome were the capitals ; but they enjoyed 
the privilege of being excluded from the provincial division, and 
had their own peculiar administration and governor, who, un- 
der the name of city-prsefect — prcefectus tirbis — enjoyed a 
power similar, at least, to that of the prastorial praefects. In 
all the frontier provinces and garrisoned towns, there were, 
besides, military commanders, called counts — comites — and 
dukes — dtices — at the head of the troops. 

L THE EASTERN EMPIRE. 

6. Limits. — It was separated from the western empire 
in Europe, by the rivers Drinus (now the black Drin), a 
tributary of the Save in Moesia and by the Barbana (now Bo- 
jana) which discharges itself into the lake Labeatis (now of 
Scutari or Scodra) ; in Africa, by the great Syrtis and the 
deserts, extending southward into the interior. On the north 
side of the Pontus Euxinus, the southern coast of the Cher- 
sonesus Taurica (now the Crimea), with the towns of Cherson 
(now Sevastopol) and Tkeodosia (now Caffa), belonged like- 
wise to the eastern empire. 

7. Capital. — Constantinople, founded by Constantine in 
330, on the site of Byzantium, in antiquity, a rich and flour- 
ishing town, which, however, during the civil wars between 
Severus and Gallienus, in a. d. 196, had suffered a great deso- 
lation. The particular advantage and beauty of its situation, 
on a projecting triangle, formed by the Bosphorus, the Propon- 



EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE. 



9 



tis, and the magnifieeDt gulf or harbor of the Grolden Horn, 
were so great, the communication by water with Asia, Africa, 
and Europe, so easy, its strong central position so defensible, 
the environs so fertile, and the climate so mild and healthy 
(41° I'' 10''' northern latitude), that Constantino could not 
have made a better choice for his new Christian capital, and 
might well consider it as a divine inspiration. Constantinople 
was built entirely after the model of Rome, and called New 
Rome in the beginning. Its circumference was sixteen miles, 
but the walls were afterwards extended on the west,' embrac- 
ing, like Rome, seven hills and fourteen regions, of which the 
thirteenth, that of Sykena (Pera and G-alata), lay beyond the 
Grolden Horn — to Kipa^;, XpvaoKipas. The harbor was shut by 
a chain, behind which lay a line of battle-ships for defence. 
The strong walls, the towers, and the castles on the three an- 
gles of the city, rj 'AKpoTroXts, rb K-vKkw/Stov or 'ETTTaTrvpycov, 
and at BA-tt^epvai were considered impregnable. A broad 
avenue — yj fiicrrj — ran through the city from east to west ; several 
squares and market-places — AugustcBum, Chrysomihuni,'^ 
Fora Constantini, Theodosii, Arcadii, Artopolium, Strate- 
Sion, and others — splendid aqueducts, fountains, Nv/xi/'ara, 
baths, Kovrpa ; cisterns, Kicrrepi/at ; served for ornament and 
comfort. Among -the magnificent public buildings, we men- 
tion the circus, 6 'IttttoS/so/xos ; the two theatre's, the great pa- 
lace, TO KvaKTopov, with the court Triclinium {y XaXK-q), the 
Chrysotriclinium, the Porphyra, the Daphne^ the TruUus (so 
called from its cixpola), the Tzycanisterium, or place for mili- 
tary exercises, many other imperial palaces, t^s TAayvovpas, 
Tuv BAa^epi/aJv, tov BodkoXeoftos, KavpuxKov ; the tribunals or 
palaces for the Senate and State oiEcers, for the Patriarchs 
and Prelates ; the arsenals, Armamentaria (ra Mayyara) ; 
the immense storehouses ; among the numerous and gaudy 
churches, those of Santa Sophia,''' the Pantokrator, the Pam- 
makaristos, the Holy Apostles, and Sancta Irene; many 
convents, monasteries and pious institutions ; and finally, on 
the western city walls (to. x^paata Tdxq), the splendid, still pre- 
served palace of Hebdomon (now Tekiour- Serai). Outside of 
the city, along the banks of the Bosphorus, both in Europe 
and in Asia Minor, were situated niimerous palaces, convents, 
country-seats and gardens. The canal from Pera to the Pon- 
tus with its shores, was called the Strait., to l,Ttv6v or to 
KarasTei'oi'. Constantino, to adorn his new creation, plundered 
the other cities of Greece and Asia Minor of their artistical 
treasures, columns, monuments, and heathen statues, which, in 
part, were transformed into Christian Saints, while their citi- 
zens were ordered to inhabit Constantinople, and even the 
proud Romans were induced, by flattery and privileges, to fol- 
low the Imperial Court.' 

8. Division. — The Eastern Empire was divided into two 



* The wall of Theodosius II. was constructed in the year 413. It 
embraced the Hebdomon or seventh hill, with the old palace of Con- 
stantine still standing in its ruins. The siibui-b of Blacliernse, on the 
northwestern angle, was taken into the city walls by Heraclins, in 620, 
and strongly fortified with towers and ditches by Leo, the Armenian, 
during the Bulgarian war, in 815. 

^ The golden Mile-stone, at the entrance of the Palace, from which 
started the principal high-roads of the Eastern Empire, like those of the 
Western from Rome. 

^ Founded by Constantine, but rebuilt by Justinian I. in a. d. 532. 

^ A thorough knowledge of the localities of Constantinople and its 
environs is necessary, in order to understand the Byzantine Historians. 
The best descriptions of Constantinople among the earlier writers, are 
those of Charles Dufresne (in the collection of Byzantine Historians) 
and Gj-llius; among the moderns, the Koi^/sTuyTmas, Venice, 1824, by 
a learned Greek prelate (in modern Greek), and Constantinopolis und der 
Bosporus, by von Hammer. Pesth, 1822, 2 Vols. A small but correct 
plan of medieval Constantinople is found in the excellent Historical At- 
has of Doctor Charles von Spruner, under No. 59. 



praefectures, that of the Orient and that of Illyria ; these were 
again subdivided into seven dioceses, comprising sixty or sixty- 
one provinces, which we shall now describe from records of the 
time.' 

Pr.efectuke of the Orient. 

9. Extent and Division. — It was much more extensive 
than that of Illyria, comprehending all the possessions of the 
Eastern Empire in Asia and Africa, and one-third of those 
situated iu Europe ; it was divided into five dioceses — Orient, 
Egypt, Asia, Pontus, and Thrace — which were subdivided 
into fifty provinces. 

10. Diocese of the Orient. — This diocese was governed 
by a Count — Comes Orientis — who, on account of the import- 
ance of his trust, enjoyed the first rank among the vicar ii of 
the east, and it consisted of the ancient provinces — Syria, 
Phoenicia, Palestine, the northwestern part of Mesopotamia., 
the two Cilicice, Isauria, and the island of Cyprus. Of its 
fifteen provinces, the five first were governed by Consulars ; 
the other ten less important by Presidents. Dukes with 
bodies of troops were placed in Palestine Salutaris, Phoenicia 
LihaAiensis, Syria Eiiphratensis, Osrhoene and Arabia, for 
the defence of the frontiers of the empire. These fifteen pro- 
vinces of the Oriental diocese were according to their rank ; 
1st, Palastina Prima; 2d, Phoenicia Maritima ; 3d, 
Syria ; 4th, Cilicia Prima ; 5th, Cyprus ; 6th, Palcestina 
Salutaris ; 7th, Palcestina Secuncla ; 8th, Phainicia Liban- 
ejisis ; 9th, Syria Eiq^hratensis ; 10th, Syria Salutaris; 
11th, Osrhoene; 12th, Mesopotamia; I3th, Cilicia Secn7tda ; 
14th, Arabia ; 15th, Isauria. In our description of these 
provinces we shall follow a more regular geographical order, 
beginning with the south and proceeding toward the north. 

11. I. Palcestina Tertia or Salutaris,^ comprised the 
regions east and south of the Dead Sea, formerly belonging to 
Arabia Petrsea (Ammonitis, Moabitis, and Idumaea). It ex- 
tended also across the valley of Arabah westward so as to take 
in Beersheba and Elusa. Petra, the ancient capital of the 
NabathcEa7is, in the deep romantic valley of Moses — Wady 
Musa — beneath Mount Horeb, was probably the metropolis. 

II. PaLjEStina Prima, northwest of the former, extended 
along the coast of the Mediterranean and eastward across to the 
Dead Sea. Its metropolis was Cesarea (now the ruins of Kais- 
sarieh), which had changed its ancient name, Turris Stratonis, 
when Herod the G-reat built his magnificent city with its arti- 
ficial harbor iu honor of Cassar Augustus.'' Jerusalem, or 
Aelia Capitolina, the venerable capital of the ancient Jews, 
held now only a second rank in the province, and it was not 
until one century later, at the Council of Chalcedon, a. d. 
451-53, that it was erected into an independent Patriarchate, 
comprising the three Palestines.*' After the first almost total 
destruction of the city by Titus in a. d. 70, Hadrian had be- 
gun to rebviild it as a Roman fortress, when the second terrible 
insurrection of the exasperated Jews under their mysterious 
leader, Barcochba, brought new disasters over the miserable 
population of Judsea. They were, in spite of their desperate 
valor, vanquished by the sword — a. d. 132-135 — and sold by 
thousands as slaves, or else expelled to the coasts of Africa. 



'" See the Imperial Register from the time of Theodosius, entitled : 
Notitia utraque dic/nifatum cum Orientis turn Occidentis. Printed at 
the end of the Theodosian Code. 

° This by-name, Salutary, was given to several provinces of both 
empires, on account of their thermal springs. 

' Its name was Ccesarea Palcestina, to distinguish it from the Cap- 
padocian Csesarea and the Csesarea Philippi (Paneas) in Traclionitis. 

' The Patriarchate of Antioch continued to rule the two Plioenicise 
nnd northern Arabia. 



10 



EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE. 



Hadrian then established a new Roman Colony on the ruins ; 
a temple of Jupiter Capitolinus rose on Mount Moriah, and 
statues of Venus and other Roman idols, as if in mockery, 
crowned the Calvary and Golgotha ; nay, the name of Jerusa- 
lem was anathematized, and the Roman settlement was named 
Aelia Capitolina. But with the spread of Christianity, the 
pilgrims began to flock to Jerusalem ; the idols and heathen 
temples were destroyed ; Constantine and his mother, the pious 
Helena, erected splendid churches and hospitals for the recep- 
tion of the pilgrims at Jerusalem and Bethlehem in 326. Saint 
Hilarion brought his hermits with him from the Thebais in 
Egypt, and then the wilderness of Judah, the shores of the 
Dead Sea, and the valley of Jordan, became inhabited by 
thousands of recluses ; these austere anchorites lived in the 
natural grottoes and caverns on the dreary mountains, and 
united for worship in their common sanctuaries or laurcB, 
which afterwards, by Pachymius, were placed under a severer 
monastic discipline as Kowo/Sia or -monasteries. At the 
time we speak of (39.5) Santa Paula, the noble Roman lady, 
and her pious daughter Eustochium, were building nunneries 
in Bethlehem;^ St. Eusebius had just been buried in the 
sepulchral vault of the grotto of the Nativity, and his disciple 
St. Jerome, was then occupied in his rock-chamber with his 
Latin translation of the Sacred Scriptures, while the Goths 
Avere devastating Rome and Italy. A century later St. Sa- 
bas founded his celebrated monastery in the valley of the 
Kidron. ' ° 

III. Pal^stina Secunua, east of the former, com- 
prehended Samaria, G-alilee, and part of the Deeapolis 
beyond Jordan. Its metropolis was Scythopolis, the ancient 
Bethshean (now Tell Beisan), situated in the valley of Jezreel, 
near the Jordan, with an Episcopal see and a celebrated mo- 
nastery. 

IV. Arabia, east of the Jordan, consisted of the ancient 
Itursea, Trachonitis, Auranitis and Batan^a, bordering upon 
the great desert, with the metropolis Bostra (now Basra). 
The governor united the titles of Duke and President, and 
commanded the troops on the frontier. 

V. Phcenicia Maritima extended along Mount Lebanon 
and the sea. Its earlier metropolis was the old Phoenician 
Tye — Tyrus — (now Sour), on its peninsula ; later, however, 
under the younger Theodosius, Berytus (now Beirut), the seat 
of the celebrated Roman law-school, obtained that dignity. 

VI. Phcenicia Libani or Libanesia {Libanensis), on the 
cast of Mount Lebanon, consisted of the ancient Ccele-Syria 
and Palmyrene. Its capital was the magnificent and populous 
city of Damascus in its fertile plain, at the base of the Anti- 
Lebanon, and already at that period celebrated for its manu- 
factures of arms. Northward on the Orontes lay Emesa (now 
Hems), which had risen on the downfall of Palmyra in the war 
between Queen Zenobia and Aurelian, a. d. 275. The latter 
city, in the desert toward the Euphrates, had lost its wealth 
and splendor, though it still remained the great resting-place 
for the caravans from the east. 

12. VII. Syria Secunda or SahUaris, the ancient Apa- 
uiene, lay north of the former, with its metropolis Apamea 

'' Santa Paula died in 404. We copied the beautiful inscription on her 
>i('pulelirein the grotto of the Nativity, during our visit to Bethlehem. 

Adspicis angiiistwii prcecisa in rupe sepulcrum ? 
ffonpiiimn Panlce eat, codcKti.a rec/na tenentis. 
Fratrein, cor/natos, liomani pcUriainque rdinqucHu 
Biviiias sobole.m Bethlehemitc conditnr antro. 
Hie prcexepe tuum, Ghriste, atque hie niystica Magi 
Mnncra pnrtantcs, hnminique Beoqrie dederc. 
'" Interesting details on the condition of .Jernsalem during the early 

Christian centuries are given in Pmf. Robinson's Biblical Researches 

in Palestine. Vol. TT., pace "-2*7. 



(now Famieh), in a strong position on a lake formed by the 
river Orontes. 

VIII. Syria Prijia or Consularis, on the northern slope 
of Mount Lebanon, possessed the largest and most populous 
city of the diocese, splendid Antioch (now Andakieh), on the 
Orontes, surrounded by gardens, vineyards and olive groves, 
the seat of all the delights and glitter of the East. It was the 
metropolis of the province, and the residence of the count ; 
and here were the arsenals and military depots of the em- 
pire. 

IX. Syria Euphratensis was situated west of the Eu- 
phrates, and contained the ancient Cyrrhestice and Commagene, 
with the metropolis Hierapolis, syr. Bambyce (now Mam- 
besch), at a short distance from the Euphrates (now Frat). 

13. X. Osrhoene, east of the former, on the left bank of 
the Euphrates, and the outskirts of the Empire, was then the 
contested battle-field with the Persians. It had formed part of 
the ancient Mesopotamia, and was defended toward the Tigris 
by the two celebrated fortresses of Nisibis and Dara, which, 
however, alternately were conquered by the Persians, or re- 
taken by the Romans. Edessa, called CallirrJioe, from her 
pleasant springs (now Orfah), the metropolis, was likewise 
strongly fortified, and contained celebrated shield and armor 
factories, and the arsenals and depots for the armies on the 
Persian frontier. On the southeast of Edessa lay Theo- 
dosiojiolis, the ancient Resain, rebuilt by the emperor whose 
name it took, in a rich and well watered region. 

XL Mesopotamia, on the northeastern frontier, was form- 
ed of that small strip of the ancient province of Mesopotamia 
called SojjJiene, between the upper Euphrates and Tigris with 
the metropolis Amida (now Diabekir). 

14. XII. Cilicia Secunda, the eastern part of the ancient 
Cilicia cam-joestris, the fertile and beautiful plain between 
the high mountain ranges of Amanus and Tavrus, with the 
metropolis Anazarbus (now Ak-Sarai), on the river Pyramus. 

XIII. Cilicia Prima formed the rest, or the western part 
of the ancient Cilicia cavq^estris, with the rich and commer- 
cial metropolis Tarsus on the Cydnus. 

XIV. IsAURiA, west of Cilicia Prima, comprised both the 
ancient Isauria and Cilicia Trachcza. The mountaineers of 
this rugged and barren country still retained their old roving 
habits, wherefore a Count at the head of two legions united 
here the military and civil command. The metropolis was 
Seleucia Trach/ea (now Selefkieh), situated on the coast op- 
posite to the island of Cyprus. 

XV. The island of Cyprus, separated from the mainland 
of Asia Minor by the Cilician Straits — Aidon Cilicius — was 
still populous and highly cultivated ; and its metropolis Sala- 
mis, on the eastern coast, had recently taken the name of one 
of the sons of Constantine, and was called Constantia (now 
Costanza). 

15. Diocese of Egypt. — This diocese, the richest and 
most important of the empire, on account of its immense ex- 
port of grains for the provision of Constantinople, was governed 
by a Praefect with the title of Augustalis, and a rank immedi- 
ately following that of the Comes Orientis ; but as he could 
only be chosen from the order of the Roman Knights — Equitxs 
— the six provinces under his diocese — Libya superior, Libya 
inferior, Thebais, Egypt Proper, Arcadia, and Augustamnica — 
were not governed by Consulars, but the five first by Presi- 
dents, and the last by a Corrector. A military Count, with two 
Dukes and bodies of troops, was stationed in Egypt proper, 
for the defence of the frontiers of Libya superior and Thebais. 

16. I. AuGUSTAJiNicA Or Aiigustanice, formed the north- 
eastern part of Lower Egypt, between the mouth of the Nile 
and the frontiers of Palestine and Arabia, with Pelusium (now 
Tineh) for its metropolis. 



EASTERxN ROMAN EMPIRE. 



11 



II. ^GYPTUS Propria, on the west of the foregoing, con- 
sisted of that part of the Delta lying west of the Nile toward 
Lybia. Alexandria, the metropolis, and residence of the 
Prcefectus Augustalis and the military Count, was still, by its 
splendor, wealth, science and commerce, one of the most im- 
portant cities of the civilized world. The circumference of its 
walls was twelve Roman miles, within which lived a bustling 
population of three hundred thousand souls, gathered from 
every part of the Roman empire. Two magnificent avenues 
crossed in right angles through the length and breadth of the 
city, dividing the ancient Brucldum from the Rkarotis. The 
principal of these thoroughfares — the Via Elensinia — was the 
Broadway of Alexandria ; it ran from the eastern or Canopian 
gate westward, between rows of marble columns, for forty 
stadia or five miles, to the western gate, that of the Necropolis. 
Magnificent public buildings adorned it on both sides ; the 
Stadium, the town-hall or Decasterium, the Gymnasium, 
the amphitheatre and the immense Soma, the mausoleum in 
which the body of Alexander the Great, the founder of the 
city, was deposited. At the Hcptajjylon, the second street 
struck the first, running from the Porta Solis on the lake of 
Mareotis, northward to the coast where at the Moon gate — 
Porta Lunce — the Hep)tastaclium., a magnificent dike or 
causeway, seven stadia in length, united the island of Pharus 
with the mainland. Here stood the celebrated beacon-tower 
— the Pharus — the wonder of ancient architecture, built by 
Sostratus of Cnidus ; its height was 360 feet, and its blazing 
fires were distinguished at a distance of forty miles on the sea. 
It looked down upon the ports — Portns Major on the east, 
the Eimostus on the west — smaller ports for the imperial fleets, 
and for the public granaries, were strongly fortified, and 
guarded with troops. In the Bruchium stood the Museum, 
with the precious library, and the Sebaste or Temple of Cassar, 
with two obelisks in front, which latter having during two 
thousand years seen the downfall of Egyptian superstition at 
Thebes, and then been removed to Alexandria in honor of 
Grecian polytheism, remained now to adorn a Christian church. 
In the same quarter stood — and stands to this day — the lofty 
column of Diocletian, with its equestrian statue on the top, 
raised to record the conquering Emperor's humanity, and the 
gratitude of the citizens of the world's emporium. On the out- 
side of the western gate was the Necropolis, whose memorials 
of the dead, both Pagan and Christian, lined the roadside and 
the sea-coast for more than two miles, and harmonized most 
truly with the faded glories of the empire. Near the Avestern 
gate also, but within the walls, stood the famed Temple of 
Serapis, second to no building in the world but the Roman 
Capitol, a glittering monument of the rise and fall of religions, 
once the very fortress of paganism, now the Patriarchal 
Cathedral of victorious Christendom. ' ' 

III. Arcadia, so called by Theodosius in honor of his 
younger son, Arcadius, was formed of central Egypt, the an- 
cient Heptanoniis, and extended from the point of the Delta 
to the border of the Thebals, in Upper Egypt. Its metropolis 
was Memphis (now Menf in its ruins), on the left bank of the 
Nile. 

IV. Thebais, south of Arcadia, was subdivided into the 
first and second Thebais, and comprehended all Upper Egypt. 
It was protected by eight legions, stationed on the frontiers. 

" Since the Arabian conquest, a. d. 640 (206), the population of 
Alexandria has diminislied so much that the whole modern city now 
stands on the widened Heptastadium, the causeway that joins to the 
mainland what was once the island of Pharus. Only the towering 
column of Diocletian — commonly called the pillar of Pompey — and the 
obelisk of the Sebaste (the needle of Cleopatra), still remain in their 
place, and serve as guides for the antiquary. — See the attempt of Sir 
Gardiner Wilkinson to describe the localities of ancient Alexandria in 
his excellent work on Egypt. 



Its metropolis, Antinoe, the ancient Besa, on the right bank 
of the river, had become a beautiful and flourishing city since 
the great repairs and embellishments which Hadrian under- 
took in commemoration of his favorite Antinoiis, who had per- 
ished in the Nile. Thebes, which gave name to the province, 
existed no longer as an inhabited place, but its immense tem- 
ple ruins still covered both the banks of the Nile. 

17. V. Libya Inferior, the ancient Marmarica, extended 
westward along the Mediterranean ; its metropolis, Par^eto- 
NiuM (now Al-Baretun), was situated on the coast opposite to 
Rhodes. 

VI. Libya Superior, the celebrated ancient Greek colony 
of the five cities — the Pentapolis of Cyrenaica, was the most 
western province of the eastern empire. The metropolis, 
Cyrene, a large and flourishing city, in a wonderfully fertile 
and beautiful country, was situated four miles from the coast, 
on which lay its harbor, Sosuza, formeidy Apollonia (now 
Marza-Susa). 

1 8. The Diocese of Asia. — DicEcesis Asiana — was formed 
of all the early conquests of the victorious Romans in Asia 
Minor. It was divided into two parts : the Diocese of Asia 
Proper, which was governed by a Vicar, and contained eight 
provinces, and of the Proconsulate of Asia, ruled by a Pro- 
consul, who was directly subordinate to the Prsetorial Prsefect 
of the Orient. It consisted of the three provinces contiguous 
to the Egean. The eight provinces of the diocese were the 
following: 1st, Pamphylia ; 2d, Lydia ; 3d, Caria ; 4th, 
Lycia ; 5i\\, Lycaonia ; 6th, Pisiclia ; 7th, Phrygia Paca- 
tiana ; 8th, Plirygia Salutaris. The two first provinces 
were governed by Consulars, and the eight latter by Presidents. 
The three maritime provinces depending on the Proconsulate 
of Asia were Asia proper, governed by the Proconsul him- 
self ; Hellespont having a Consular ; and the islands of the 
Egean with a President. 

19. The Provinces of the Diocese, after their geographi- 
cal order, and proceeding from east to west, may be ranged in 
the following manner : 

I. Pamphy'lia, west of Isauria, extended along the coast. Its 
metropolis was Perge (now Kara-Hissar — Black Castle) at a 
short distance on the Pamphylian gulf. Other cities were the 
beautiful Attalia (now Adaliah), deeper in the gulf, sur- 
rounded by its orange-gardens, but of such melancholy memory 
from the Crusades ; and Aspendus (now Manavgat), on the 
Eurymedon, in the interior 

II. Lycaonia, north of the Taurus, extending through im- 
mense and dreary plains, with the metropolis Iconium (now 
Konieh), near a lake, on the high-road from Constantinople to 
Syria. 

III. PisiDiA, the rugged stronghold of the ancient robber- 
hordes, so well known from Xenophon's Anabasis, southwest 
of Lycaonia, with the metropolis Antiochia PisiDiiE (now Ak- 
Sher). 

20. IV. Phrygia Salutaris, northwest of Lycaonia. The 
metropolis was Synnada (now Sidi-Ghazi), at that period so 
celebrated on account of the splendid marbles which the Ro- 
mans obtained from the neighboring mountains. 

V. Php>.ygia Pacatiana, which owed its by-name to one 
of its governors. The metropolis was the large and flourishing 
Laodicea (now Eski-Hissar — Old Castle), on the river Lycus, 
which joins the Mseander. 

VI. Lycia, with its high projecting mountain-chains form- 
ing a peninsula on the Mediterranean, had for its metropolis 
the ancient maritime town of Myra (now Makra). 

21. VII. Caria, on the angle formed by the Karpathian 
Sea and the Egean, with Aphrodisias (now Gheira) for its capi- 
tal. This city was situated on the mountains in the interior, 
and had received its name from the worship of Aphrodite 



12 



EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE. 



(Venus) ; it is unknown when it took the start of the old 
Dorian Halicamassus (now the ruinous Castle of Budrun) on 
the coast of the Ceramic gulf 

VIII. Lydia, north of Caria, embraced only the interior 
of the ancient province of that name, and had for its metropo- 
lis the celebrated Sardes (now the miserable hamlet Sart), at 
the base of mount Tmolus^ in the fertile plain of the river 
Hermvs. It had been the capital of the ancient Ljdiau 
Kings, and still possessed imperial manufactm-es of armor and 
offensive weapons. 

22. The Provinces of the Proconsulate were — 

I. Asia Propria, northwest of Lydia, comprised some 
portion of the ancient kingdom of Pergamus, and the earlier 
Greek maritime colonies of Ionia and iEolia, with the metro- 
polis Ephesus (now Aia Soluk), the largest and most important 
city in the western part of Asia Minor. Pergamus (now Ber- 
gamo), on the Caicus, rivalled in rank and riches with 
Ephesus, and surpassed it by its magnificent Macedonian mon- 
uments from the times of its kings. 

II. Hellespontus, along the straits which gave it its name. 
Its metropolis was Cyzicus (now Zisik), on a small peninsula 
of the Propontis. Abydos (now Avido), on the narrowest part 
of the straits, near the present castles of the Dardanelles, was 
then one of the most flourishing towns of the province. 

III. The Province of the Isles consisted of all the 
islands in the Egeau, and those lying along the coast of Asia 
Minor, such as the Cydades and Sporades^ Lesbos, Chios, Sa- 
mos, Patmos, Cos, and Rhodes ; the beautiful city of the 
latter was the metropolis and residence of the governor during 
winter, while it was his duty in summer to visit all the islands 
in their turn. '- 

23. Diocese of Pontus — DicBcesis Pojitica — embraced 
not only the ancient kingdom of Mithridates, but all the nor- 
thern coast- land of Asia Minor, from the Thracian Bosporus 
and the Propontis on the west, eastward to the frontiers of the 
empire on the mountains of Armenia. It was governed by a 
Vicar, and contained the following eleven provinces : 1 st, Ga- 
latia; 2d, BWiynia ; 3d, Honorias ; 4th, First Cappadocia ; 
5th, Second Cappadocia ; 6th, Hellenopontus ; 7th, Pontus 
Polemoniacus ; 8th, First Armenia; 9th, Second Armenia; 
10th, Galatia Salutaris ; llth, Paphlagonia. The two first 
were governed by Consulars, the eight following by Presidents, 
and the last by a Corrector. Let us review them in their geo- 
graphical order, beginning from the east. 

I. Pontus Polemoniacus consisted of the eastern part of 
the ancient province of Pontus, and had formed a kingdom 
under the first Emperors, which took its name from its mo- 
narchs, the Polemons. The metropolis was either Neoc^sa- 
rea (now Niksara), on the river Lycus, or perhaps Trapezus 
(now Tarabesan), the celebrated Peloponnesian colony on the 
shores of the Black Sea. Other cities, flourishing by fisheries 
and commerce, were Polemonium and Cerasus, with its forests 
of cherry-trees, and in the interior Coniana Pontica. 

II. Hellenopontus or Pontus of Helena, in honor of the 
mother of Constantino, consisted of the western part of an- 
cient Pontus, with the metropolis of Amasia (now Amasiah), 
on the Iris, the old capital of the Pontian kings. 

25. III. Armenia Prima, on the south, was composed of 
the northern part of the ancient Armenia Minor. Its metro- 
polis was Sebaste (now Sivas), the ancient Cabira, on the 
river Halys. 

IV. Armenia Secunda, south of the former ; metropolis, 
Melitene (now Malethija), near the Euphrates, the ancient 

" The rest— Tenedos, Lemnos, Imbrus, Somothrace, Thasos, Sciathus, 
Scyros, Scopelos, Cythera and Crete, belonged to the Diocese of Mace- 
donia. 



capital of the small province of that name which formed the 
northeastern corner of Cappadocia. 

26. V. Cappadocia Prima, westward of the two former 
provinces, had formed the central part of the ancient kingdom 
of Cappadocia. The metropolis was C.esarea ad Argeum 
(now Kaisarieh), at the base of the snow-capped Mount Ar- 
geus. It had been the residence of the Cappadocian kings, 
then called Mazaca, and was still a thriving town — important 
by its excellent fabrication of cuirasses. 

VI. Cappadocia Secunda had been separated from the 
former by the Emperor Valens. Tyana (now Nikdeh), the 
birthplace of the notorious cheat ApoUonius, became then the 
metropolis, an event which caused so violent a contest between 
St. Basile, the Archbishop of Caesarea, and the Bishop of 
Tyana, who, on account of this division, attempted to grasp 
at the metropolitan rights, that the Council of Cappadocia in 
372, was obliged to augment the number of bishoprics, in order 
that the two warring prelates might each obtain their suffragan 
churches. 

27. VII. Galatia Secunda or Salutaris, northwest of 
Cappadocia Secunda, had been formed by Theodosius from the 
southern part of the ancient Galatia. Metropolis, Pessinus 
(now Bosan), on the Sangarius. 

VIII. Galatia Prima, north of the former, consisted of 
the northern part of the ancient Galatia. Metropolis, Ancy- 
RA (now Angora). 

28. IX. Paphlagonia, between Galatia Prima and the 
Black Sea, contained the entire ancient province of that name. 
Metropolis was Gangra (now Kiangari), the residence of King 
Dejotarus, the friend of Cicero. 

X. Honorias, west of Paj^hlagonia, on the coast, had 
formed the northeastern part of Bithynia, when Theodosius 
the Great formed a new province of it, in honor of his eldest 
son, Honorius. Metropolis, Claudiopolis (now Castomena), 
near the coast. Heraclea (Erakli), on the Pontus Euxi- 
nus, a thriving commercial place, was second in rank. 

XI. BiTHY'NiA, west of Honorias, embraced a part of the 
Propontis, but contained, as we mentioned, only the south- 
western part of the ancient kingdom of Bithynia. Valens 
had already divided it into Bithynia Prima, with Nicojiedia 
(now Nikmid) for metropolis. This city, the splendid capital 
of Diocletian, was situated on the gulf of Astacus ; it still 
preserved many interesting monuments of its better days, and 
lived from its important manufactures of armor and offensive 
weapons. Nicea (now Isnik), on the beautiful lake, was the 
metropolis of Bithynia Secunda. It became celebrated from 
the first general council held there in a. d. 325, then again 
during the Crusades, and is still a fine oriental town. Prusa 
(now Brusa), on a fertile plain at the foot of Mount Olympus, 
was the ancient residence of the Bithynian kings, and had the 
second rank after Nicaea. 

Diocese of Thrace. — It was governed by a Vicar, and was 
divided into six provinces : 1st, Europa ; 2d, Thrace Proper ; 
3d, Haemimons ; 4th, Rhodope ; 5th, McBsia Secunda ; 6th, 
Scythia. The two first were governed by Consulars, and the 
following four by Presidents ; military Dukes with troops were 
moreover placed in Moesia and Scythia, for the defence of the 
frontiers on the Danube. 

30. I. Europa was situated on the Thracian Bosporus 
and the Propontis, and preserved thus its primitive name, 
which afterwards was applied to the whole continent. As 
Constantinople had its own administration, Heraclea (now 
Erekli), the ancient Perinthus, on the Propontis, was the me- 
tropolis of the province. 

II. Rhodope, west of Europa, took its name from the 
mountain range which starts off westward from the central 
Scardus. Its metropolis was Trajanopolts (now Arachova), 



EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE. 



13 



on the Hebrus^ one of the cities which Trajan had built in the 
interior of Thrace. Adder a (now Djenidje), was a considerable 
commercial port on the Egean. 

III. H.EMiMONs, or province of Mount Hsemus, north of 
Rhodope, owed its origin to Theodosius. Metropolis, Hadri- 
ANOPOLis (now Adrianople, Turkish JEdrene), a large and 
strongly fortified city, on the left bank of the Hebrus, with 
imperial manufactures of arms and military engines, be- 
came important at the period we describe, by the siege which 
it so gallantly sustained against the Visigoths, and by the ter- 
rible defeat and death of Valens, while attempting its relief, 
in August, 378. The battle-field was on the north of the city, 
near the village of S/adariofi, where the emperor was burnt 
in a cottage, on his flight. 

IV. Thracia Propria, west of Hfemimons, consisted only 
of the western extremity of that region, with the metropolis, 
Philippopolis (now Filibe), on the upper Hebrus. 

31. V. McESiA Secunda or Liferior, north of Hasmimons, 
and of Thrace, beyond the ridge of Mount Hasmus, along the 
banks of the Danube. Metropolis, Marcianopolis (now Pra- 
wadi), where the Romans sufi"ered the first defeat against the 
Visigoths, in 377, after the admission of the latter into the 
Roman provinces, the preceding year, 376, to the number of 
more than a million of souls. 

VI. ScYTHiA Parva, northeast of Moesia Secunda, formed 
a narrow peninsula between the course of the lower Danube 
and the Black Sea. Metropolis, Tomi (now Baba Dagh), on 
the Pontus, well known from the exile of the poet Ovidius. 
Salices, or the village of the willows, of sorrowful memory, 
from another defeat which the Romans suffered there, during 
the Gothic war in 377. 

Prefecture of Illyria. 

32. Extent and Divisions. — This prsefecture was often 
called Illyria Orientalis^ in order to distinguish it from an- 
other diocese of the Western Empire, which likewise had the 
name of Illyricum (45). It embraced most of the European 
possessions of the eastern Empire, and was divided into two 
dioceses ; that of Dacia on the north, and of Macedonia, 
which contained all ancient Hellas, on the south. The two 
dioceses consisted of eleven provinces. It was in this impor- 
tant praefecture that Alaric, the first king of the Visigoths, by 
force of arms and intrigue, obtained, in 398, the dignity of 
Master General of eastern Illyria, which he employed to the 
subjugation of the western Empire. 

33. Diocese of Dacia. — The ancient province of Dacia 
lay on the north of the Danube, and extended on the north- 
east toward Sarmatia, from which it was separated by the river 
Tyras or Uanaster (now Dniester). North, it reached the 
Carpathian Mountains, and west, to the river Tibiscus (now 

,' Theiss). The low, swampy plain between that river and the 
' upper Danube, afterwards the residence of Attila and the 
Huns at Buda, and the conquest of the Avars and Magyars 
(Hungarians) in the 6th and 9th centuries — was never occu- 
pied by the Romans. Its inhabitants were the wild, nomading 
Jazyges of Sarmatian origin, whose descendants may still be 
distinguished among the many races of modern Hungary. 
Roman Dacia thus embraced thepresent Bessarabia, Moldavia, 
Wallachia, Transylvania, and part of Hungary ; its rivers were 
the Tibiscus and Mariscus (now Marosh). The ancient Daci 
had been vanquished by Trajan, during his campaigns in 
103-6, when Dacia was reduced to a Roman province, and 
repeopled with numerous Roman colonies. The old Dacian 
town, Zarmizegethusa was then denominated TJljna Trajana, 
and several ruins in the neighborhood of the modern con- 
vent of Sarnitza, south of Weissenburgh, still attest the great 



exertions of the Romans to obtain a firm footing beyond the > 
Danube. Dacia became a flourishing province, and remained 
for 168 years (between a. d. 106, and 274), united to the 
Roman empire. But on the advance of the Goths toward 
the Black Sea and the lower Danube, and the invasion of the 
Alemanni on the Rhine, the Emperor Aurelian voluntarily 
evacuated Dacia in the year 274, and transported the Roman 
inhabitants back across the Danube to Mossia (the present 
Bulgaria and Servia), where he established them in a new 
province, Dacia Aureliani, which he formed on the Danube, 
in the centre of Moesia, between the rivers Utus (now Isker) 
on the east, and Margus (now Morava) on the west. Yet the 
greater part of the Roman population seems to have remained 
in ancient Dacia under the mild sway of the Visigoths, and 
even afterwards, during the invasions of the Avars and Hun- ) 
garians ; they have preserved their Latin language, though 
somewhat corrupted, down to the present day, and form now, 
under the name Wlachs or Rumani, one of the many hetero- 
geneous races of Transylvania. The diocese of Dacia, in the 
times of Theodosius, was governed by a Vicar, and was divided 
into flve provinces : 1st, Dacia Interior or Mediterranea ; 
2d, Dacia Ripensis ; 3d, Mcesia Pritna ; 4th, Dardania ; 
5th, Prcevalitana, with a part of Macedonia Salutaris. The 
first province was governed by a Consular, and the four others 
by Presidents. In Dacia Ripensis and Moesia Prima, both 
situated along the Danube, dukes and numerous garrisons were 
formerly stationed at the strong fortresses of Singidiinuvi, 
Viminacium, and Ratiaria,. to prohibit the passage of the 
river. But since the year 376, the immense swarms of Visi- 
goths, with their families and herds of cattle, had already 
been admitted, and temporarily settled in Moesia Secunda and 
Scythia Minor, on the Pontus, whence they soon spread war 
and devastation into the very heart of the sinking empire. 
We shall now describe these important provinces after their 
geographical position from, north to south. 

34. I. Dacia Ripensis, along the Ister or Danube, opposite 
to the ancient Dacia, which was situated on the north beyond the 
river. Ratiaria (now Widdin), on the banks of the Danube, was 
the metropolis, and a fortified city, with manufactures of arms. 

II. Dacia Mediterranea or Interior, south of the former, 
extended to the northern base of Mount Hcemus, and had for 
its metropolis, Sardica or Triaditza (still the present name), 
so celebrated by the Ecclesiastical Council held there in the 
time of Constantine, and by the devastations of the Barbarians, 
who crossed the passes of Mount Hasmus south of the city. 
Maximin, the opponent of Licinius, was born in the environs 
of Sardica, and Constantine the great at Naissus (now Nissa). 

III. Mcesia Prima or Superior, west of Dacia Ripensis, 
after the dismemberment of the two Daciae, contained only the 
western part of the ancient province, and formed the frontier of 
the eastern Empire on the Savics and Drinus, which sepa- 
rated it from western Rome. Its metropolis was the strong 
fortress Viminacium or Biniinaciiim (now presenting only 
heaps of ruins in the neighborhood of the village Gradistie), 
on the Danube. Another bulwark of the Empire was Singi- 
diinnni (now the thrice celebrated Belgrade), westward on the 
confluence of the Savus and the Danube, where so many 
bloody battles have been fought. 

35. IV. Dardania, south of Moesia Superior, preserved 
its name from one of the ancient provinces of the Macedonian 
kingdom, and it extended on both slopes of Mount Scardus. 
Its metropolis was Scupi, or Skupoi (now Uskup), southeast, 
on the upper Axius. Northeast of Scupi lay the small 
village Tauresion (now Giustendil), on the Strymon ; the birth- 
place of Justinus and Justinian, which afterwards was enlarged 
and favored in honor of the Emperor under the pompous name 
of TJlpiana or Jnslinianro Frinia. 



14 



EASTERN AND WESTERN ROMAN EMPIRE. 



V. Pr^evalitana, southwest of Dardania, was formed of 
a portion of ancient Illyria, and touched the Adriatic coast at 
the mouth of the river Barbana, which formed the western 
frontier of the Empire toward Dalmatia. It was afterwards 
called Prebalis and Aemathia in Upper Albania. Scodra 
(now Scutari), on the southern shore of the lake Labea- 
iis (now lake of Scutari or Scodra), at a short distance from 
the Adriatic gulf, was the metropolis. It contained likewise 
the northern part of another province called Macedonia Sahc- 
taris, which seems, from reasons unknown, to have been divided 
between the two dioceses of Dacia and Macedonia. 

36. Diocese of Macedonia. — It embraced the ancient 
kingdom of Macedonia, Epirus and Greece, and was divided 
into six provinces, the most important of which, that of Achaia, 
containing central and southern G-reece, formed, on account of 
its importance and ancient glory, a proconsulate by itself, like 
that of Asia (18) independent of the Vicar, governing the dio- 
cese. The five other provinces, placed under his jurisdiction, 
were after their rank: 1st, Macedojiia Minor ; 2d, Crete; od, 
Thessaly ; 4th, Epirus ; 5th, Epirus Nova, with the southern 
part of Macedonia Salutaris. The two first were ruled by 
Consulars, and the four others by Presidents. We will de- 
scribe them in their geographical order descending from the 
north, south througii Greece. 

37. I. Macedonia Minor, on the southeast of the dio- 
cese, formed the ancient Macedonia proper, that is, Edonia, 
Chalcidice, Mygdonia;Borda!a, Emathia, Pieria and Elymiotis, 
and was separated from Thrace by the river Nestus. Thes- 
SALONiCA (now Saloniki on the Thermaic gulf) was the metro- 
polis — Edessa and Bella, the ancient capitals of the kingdom, 
though woefully decayed since the times of Philip and Alex- 
ander, were still towns of some importance and movement. 

38. II. Epirus Nova, on the west side of Mount Pindus, 
was formed by Theodosius into a separate province from the nor- 
thern part of ancient Epirus;and Dveraciiidm (now Durazzo), 
on a small bay of the Ionian Sea, was made its metropolis. 
The southwestern part of thedismembered province Macedonia 
Salutaris (35), was joined to New Epirus. It is supposed that 
Stobi or Stoboi (now Istib), situated in the depth of the Pela- 
gonian Mountains, continued after the dismemberment to remain 
the seat of a governor with the title of President. 

III. Epirus Vetus, or ant.iqua, south of Epirus Nova, 
consisted of the southern parts of ancient Epirus as its name 
indicates, the modern Albania. Metropolis was Nicopolis 
(now lying in ruins near Prevesa) on the Ambraciau gulf, where 
it had been built 31b. c. by Octavian Augustus, in commemo- 
ration of his naval victory at Actium over Antonius and Cleo- 
patra. 

39. IV. Thessalia, on the east of Epirus, embraced the 
whole ancient province of that name. Metropolis Larissa, on 
the Peneus, at the foot of Mount Olympus. 

V. Greta (now Candia), south of the Egeau, the greatest 
island of Greece. Metropolis Gortyna on the fertile plain at 
the base of Mount Ida near the southern coast of the island. 
The ruins of Gortyna are situated near the village of Kainurion, 
where some travellers have taken the deep quarries in the 
neighbouring hills for the celebrated labyrinth of king Minos, 
though it was situated on the north of the island near Cnossi/s. 
This beautiful and fertile island had lost part of its population 
by dearth and pestilence, when Helena the mother of Constan- 
tine, on her return from Palestine in 326, landed on Crete, and 
ordered new settlers from Egypt and Syria, Cilicia and the 
neighboring islands to repair the loss. 

40. The Proconsulate of Achaia had already, in the 
times of the Roman Republic, been declared a proconsular 
province by the Clodian law. It had since always preserved 
that dignity, and was thus by the rank of its governor exempt- 



ed from the jurisdiction of the vicar of the Macedonian dio- 
cese, and appealed directly to the praetorial prsefect of Illyria. 
CoRiNTHUs, with its strong fortress Acro-Cprinthus, on the 
Isthmus, connecting the Peloponnesus with the mainland of 
northern Greece, was still a thriving city and the metropolis of 
the proconsulate. Yet a few years later, at the time of the in- 
vasion of Alaric and his Visigoths in a. d. 396, both Corinth, 
Argos and Sparta were plundered, and the inhabitants slaugh- 
tered or led off in captivity. Eleusis, with its proud priest- 
hood and splendid temples, had already sufl'ered the same fate. 
Athens, Athence, alone escaped ; Alaric visited the city, 
feasted with the jovial Athenians and departed without com- 
mitting any depredations, nor did the magnificent monuments 
on the Acropolis suffer any wanton destruction from the wild 
Barbarians, or from the still fiercer swarms of Arian monks 
who followed their camp. 

II. WESTERN EMPIRE. 

41. Boundaries. — The western empire extended from the 
rivers Drinus and Barbana, in Illyria, and from the great 
Syrtis, in Africa, to the Atlantic Ocean. The island of Bri- 
tain, as far north as the walls of Antonine, formed likewise a 
part of it. 

42. Capitals. — Rome had neither lost its splendor nor its 
immense population, and it was still considered as the first 
capital of the Roman empire ; but even before Constantino it 
had ceased to be the only residence of the emperors. By 
the building of Constantinople it lost entirely that old privi- 
lege, nor did it get it back on the separation of the two states. 
Mediolanum, Milan, situated in the vast and fertile plain of 
Cisalpine Gaul, seemed the most convenient residence for the 
succeeding emperors, who, being there in the midst of their arm- 
aments and military resources, were better enabled to watch the 
movements of the warlike Germanic nations beyond the 
Danube. Constantine had already, in a. d. 313, made his re- 
sidence in Milan memorable by the proclamation of his cele- 
brated edict in favor of the Christians. Afterwards, when the 
invasion of the Visigoths under Alaric, 403, had forced the timid 
Honorius to flee from that city, he found a refuge at Ravenna, 
amidst the swamps of the Adriatic Sea. Thus this unhealthy 
and sequestered spot, surrounded by low meadows, morasses, 
and canals, like modern Venice, became now the capital and the 
asylum of the emperors. She enjoyed for a long time the pri- 
vilege of being an imperial residence, and was the last seat of 
Roman power in Italy. 

43. Divisions. — The western empire was, like the east- 
ern, divided into two pr£efectures, that of Italy on the east, 
and that of the Gauls on the west. These praefectures were 
again subdivided into seven dioceses, and fifty-eight provinces, 
which we shall now describe in their order. 

Pryefecture of Italy.- 

44. Extent and Division. — It embraced besides the vast 
Hesperian Peninsula, all the possessions of the western em- 
pire in Europe between the ridge of the Alps and the Danube, 
and east of the Adriatic, and moreover that part of Africa run- 
ning along the coast of the Mediterranean, from the Great Syr- 
tis to the river Malva, which formed the western boundary 
toward the Csesarean Mauritania. This prasfecture was subdi- 
vided into four dioceses, Rome, Italy, Africa, and lllyricwn^ 
which contained together thirty provinces. We shall describe 
them in their geographical order. 

45. Diocese of Illyricum. — This diocese of Illyricum is 
distinguished from the pr£efecture of Illyria, belonging to the 
eastern empire by the special desig-nation, Illyricum Occi- 



WESTERN ROMAN EMPIRE. 



15 



dentale. It embraced all the eastern part of the praefecture of 
Italy, viz. : tlie regions east of the Adriatic, of the Julian 
Alps, and of the river CEnus (now Inn), which falls into the 
Danube. Thus it comprehended lUyricum Proper, together 
with Dalraatia, Pannonia, Noricum, and was divided into six 
provinces: 1st, Pannonia Secunda ; 2d, Savia ; 3d, Panno- 
nia Prima; 4th, Noricum Mediterraneum ; 5th Noricum Ri- 
pense ; 6th, Dalmatia. The first was governed by a Consular, 
the second by a Corrector,'^ and the four others by Presidents. 
All these provinces, except upper Noricum and Dalmatia, 
were defended by military dukes and their divisions of troops, 
who were stationed along the Danube. It seems that the pro- 
vinces of Savia and Pannonia had their military quarters in a 
particular region called Valee.ia, which extended from the hill 
country near Acincum (Buda) all along the Danube to its 
junction with the Drave, near Mursa (Essek), something simi- 
lar, perhaps, to the present Austrian military frontiers of Cro- 
atia, where the troops (frontier regiments) live in permanent 
camps. The Romans had likewise fortified the hilly country 
between the Danube and the Theiss, called the Baas, by an em- 
bankment with military stations, against the incursions of the 
roving Jazygian tribes of the plain. We shall now describe 
the provinces of the diocese of lUyricum, after their geographi- 
cal order, from southeast to northwest. 

46. I. Dalmatia, on the coast of the Adriatic, retained its 
ancient name ; but it contained, besides, that northern part of 
ancient Illyria, known by the name of Libiirnia, which does 
not seem to have formed a separate province. Its metropolis 
was Salona, in a beautiful plain near the coast. It was the 
birthplace of the Emperor Diocletian, who, after his abdication, 
A. D. 304, retired to the splendid palace which he had built 
near Salona, where he spent the remainder of his active life 
in rm-al occupations. The village of Aspalathus^ and long 
afterwards the provincial town of Spalatro, have grown out of 
the ruins of the imperial asylum, which still, in spite of its ar- 
chitectural grandeur, exhibits the decline of arts in the third 
century. 

47. II. Savia, north of Dalmatia, took its name from the 
river Savus (Save), which passed through it, and consisted 
of the southeastern part of the ancient Pannonia. Metro- 
polis, SisciA (now Sisseck), on an island in the river Colapis 
(now Kulpa), near its junction with the Save. It was here 
that Theodosius defeated Maximus in 388. Sirmium (now 
Sirmich), southeast in the province, on the Save, was one of 
the most considerable cities of the empire. It was the birth- 
place of several emperors : important councils were held there, 
until it was burnt down and destroyed by the Huns in the 
fifth century. Cibalis (now Svilei), northwest, was the battle- 
field where Constantino vanquished Licinius, in 314; and at 
Mursa, further northwest, on the banks of the Drave, Con- 
stantius defeated Magnentius, a. d. 351, in a tremendous bat- 
tle, which deprived the empire of 54,000 of its bravest warri- 
ors. AcincuTn or Aquincum, so called from its hot springs 
(now OldOfen, near Buda), on the Danube, was the principal 
city of the military district Valeria (45), and contained arse- 
nals and manufactures of arms, like Sirmium. 

III. Pannonia Secunda, or Inferior, west of Valeria, con- 
sisted only of the western part of the ancient Pannonia Infe- 
rior, the southern district of which had been dismembered, in 
order to form the province of Savia. It extended westward, 
to the great lake of Pelissa or Balaton (now Platten See). 

Bregetio (now Szony, near Comorn), on the Danube, 
where Valentinian I. died in 375, is supposed to have been 
the metropolis of the province. 

" In the western empire, the rank of the corrector (or co-rector) 
was superior to that of the president; the contrary was the case in the 
eastern empiro. 



IV. Pannonia Prima, or Sujjerior, west of the former, 
consisted mostly of the ancient province of that name. The 
metropolis was probably Sabaria (now lying in ruins near 
Sarvar, on the Raab). Pcetovium (now Pettau), southwest on 
the Drave, near the border of Noricum, is celebrated by the 
second great victory wliicli Theodosius gained over the fleeing 
troops of Maximus, three days after their first defeat at Sis- 
cia, in 388. 

Vindobona or Vindomina (now imperial Vienna), and 
CarnuntiiWv (now Presburg), both on the Danube, are often 
mentioned in the military history of the emperors. 

48. V. Noricum Ripense, west of Pannonia Prima, from 
which it was separated by Mount Cetius (now Kalemberg, 
near Vienna), extended, as its name indicates, along the 
banks of the Danube. Metropolis Laureacum (now Lorch), 
on the river. A Roman squadron of galleys and armed barks 
were stationed here to observe the movements of the Barba- 
rians on the northern bank, and oppose their passage. This 
city had manufactures of bucklers. Boiodurum or Boitro 
(now Innstadt, opposite to Passau), on the border of 
Rhgetia, was likewise a town important on account of its 
military position. 

VI. Noricum Mediterraneum, south of the former, com- 
prised the southern part of the ancient province of Noricum. 
Its metropolis is supposed to have been Virunum (now in 
ruins near Klagenfurth), on the Drave. 

49. Diocese of Italy. — This diocese, situated north of 
the country whose name it bore, did not extend much farther 
south than the limits of the ancient Cisalpine G-aul ; but it 
embraced besides, all the ancient Rhgetia and Vindelicia, be- 
tween the Alps and the Danube. It was governed by a Vicar, 
and divided into seven provinces : I st, Venetia, with Istria ; 
2d, Emilia ; 3d, Liguria ; 4th, Flaminia, with Piceniun 
Anvonarium ; 5th, Alpes Cottier; 6th, Bhcetia Prima; 
and 7th, RhcEtia Secunda. The four first were governed by 
Consulars, and the five latter by Presidents. A military Duke 
was charged with the defence of the two Rliasti^e ; only Rhai- 
tia Secunda touched the frontier line on the Rhine. We fol- 
low their geographical order from the north, southward. 

50. I. Rh.etia Secunda, on the north of the diocese, was 
formed of the ancient Vindelicia, whose metropolis, Augusta 
ViNDELicoRUM (now Augsburg) on the Picus (Lech), still 
preserved its pre-eminence in the new province. 

II. Rh.etia Prima, on the south of the former, consisted 
of the ancient Rhajtia Propria, which was separated from 
Italy by the Rhastian Alps — Alpes Rhcstice — metropolis 
CuEiA (now Chur in the Grrisons), at the base of Mount 
Splugen. 

51. III. The Cottian Alps, Alpes Cottice, southwest 
of Rhgetia, in the midst of the most towering pinnacles of the 
Alps, partly lying in Italy, partly in Gaul, preserved its name 
from the time of Augustus, who had graciously permitted the 
petty king Cottius to rule in this small country. When 
Nero afterwards reduced it to a Roman province, it retained 
the name of its last king. Metropolis, Segusio (now Suza), 
at the base of Mount Cenis, one of the most important defiles, 
from Gaul into Italy. Charlemagne crossed Mount Cenis, 
and defeated the Lombards at Suza in 774. Hannibal had 
crossed over Mons Matrona, farther southwest, and descended 
toward the springs of the Padus. 

IV. Liguria, on the east of the Cottian Alps, was an ex- 
tensive, fertile, and beautiful province, which did not only 
consist of the narrow, rugged, coast land of ancient Liguria, 
hemmed in between the Alps and the sea, but it extended 
over the central part of Cisalpine Gaul (the present Lombardy 
and Piedmont). Mediolanum (now Milan), was then both 
the metropolis of tlie province, and the capital of the western 



IG 



WESTERN ROMAN EMPIRE. 



Empire, (42), and its arcliiepiscopal see was independent of 
the Patriarch of Rome. Asia (now Asti), on the Tanarus, a 
strongly fortified town, to which Honorius fled for safety when 
Alaric and his Visigoths invaded Italy, in 403. At a short 
distance west of Asta, on the Tanarus, lay Pollentia (now 
PoUenza), where the Vandal Stilicho, then Roman general, 
hurryino- to the succor of the besieged Emperor, defeated 
Alaric in a great battle, and drove him back over the Alps. 

52. V. Venetia, on the east of Liguria, and separated 
from the diocese of Illyricum by the Julian Alps, Alfes Julia^ 
by which the Goths penetrated into Italy, had preserved its 
ancient name, and comprised, besides, the beautiful peninsula 
of Istria. Its metropolis was Aquileia, at the head of the 
Adriatic gulf, near the mouth of the Sontius (Isonzo). Being 
situated at the point where all the roads to Italy unite from 
east and northeast, this city obtained the highest importance, 
and was considered as the bulwark of Italy. Therefore were 
so many bloody battles fought beneath its walls. It was here 
that Constantine II. fell, in the war against bis brother Con- 
stance, in 340 ; Theodosius defeated here Maximus for the 
third time, in 388, and afterwards he gained here another vic- 
tory over Eugenius, in 394. Aquileia passed imscathed 
through all these storms, but at the invasion of Attila and 
his Huns in 452, it was taken by assault, after the most des- 
perate defence, and levelled to the ground, never to rise again ; 
its ruins are still seen, near G-rado. — Verona, on the south- 
west of the province, in a strong position on the Athesis (now 
Adige), beheld the second defeat and flight of Alaric and his 
myriads, by Stilicho, in 403, but on the irruption of the Huns 
it was ruthlessly destroyed, together with all the neighboring 
cities, Patavium (now Padua), Vicetio, (now Vicenza), Alti- 
nitm, Concordia, and others, but soon rebuilt. The fleeing 
inhabitants sought refuge in the midst of the lagunes of the 
Adriatic coast, where they laid the foundation of the proud 
Republic of Venice, in 452. 

53. VI. JEmilia, southwest of Venetia, contained the 
greater part of the ancient Cisjmdane Gaul, and received its 
name from the Via JEmilia, the great military road, which 
passed through its territory, and led from Ariminium to Pla- 
CENTiA (now Piacenza), its metropolis, situated on the right 
bank of the river Padus (Po). 

VIII. Flaminia, southeast of iEmilia, extended along the 
coast of the Adriatic, and contained the southeastern part of 
Gallia Cispadaua, toward the mouth of the Po, the greater 
part of the ancient Umbria, and the coast land of the ancient 
Picenum, which at this period, on account of its exuberant 
fertility and high cultivation, was called Picenum Annona- 
rium. The province itself received its new name from the 
Flaminian high road, Via Flaminia, which, from the northern 
gate of Rome, ran across Mount Apennine to Ariminium, 
one of its larger citiiss. The metropolis was the celebrated 
Ravenna (42). 

54. Diocese of Rome. — This diocese embraced all central 
and southern Italy, and all the islands, great and small, that 
lie off" the Italian coast. Though it bore the name of the cap- 
ital of the empire, and was, no doubt, the ordinary residence 
of the vicar who governed it, yet its administration was never- 
theless almost entirely independent of the Prsefect of the 
City of ^ome—prcefect.us urbis ; the few exceptions we men- 
tion below (55). The diocese had ten provinces, which, ac- 
cording to their rank, followed thus: 1st, Campania; 2d, 
Tuscia; 3d, Umbria; Ath, Sicilia ; 5i\i, Ajm Ha \i\i\\ Cala- 
bria ; 6th, Bruttium with Lucania ; 7th, Samnium ; 8th, 
Sardinia ; 9th, Corsica ; 10th, Valeria. The four first were 
governed by Consulars, the fifth and sixth by Correctors, and 
the four last by Presidents. We describe them in the order 
fi-oni nortli to soutli. 



55. I. TusciA (Tuscany), on the northwest of the diocese, 
held its ancient name and territory. It was divided into Aiino- 
nary and Suburbicary ; but the limits of the two jurisdictions 
are unknown. Tuscia Suburbicaria, like Picenum of the 
same name, were considered as dependences of the city of 
Rome, and were subjected to her prsefect, whose jurisdiction 
seems to have extended for one hundred miles [ad centesimum 
lajndem) around the old mistress of the world. Flokentia 
(Florence), on the Arnus (Arno), was the metropolis. Fcesu- 
loe, (Fiesole), on Mount Apennine, near Florence, where, in the 
valley of Mucro (now Mugrone), Stilicho surrounded and anni- 
hilated the immense army of Radagaisus, in 406. It was at the 
border of this province, between the Saxa Rubra (Red Rocks) 
and the bridge Milvius, now the well known Ponte MoUe, 
over the Tiber, at 6 miles distance from Rome, where Max- 
entius was defeated and perished in battle against Constantine, 
in 312. 

II. Umbria, or Picenum Suburbicarium, between Tuseia 
on the west, and Picenum Annonarium on the east, was formed 
of that part of ancient Umbria which extended on the western 
slope of Moimt Apennine, and bordered on the ancient Sabini, 
in the neighborhood of Rome ; it formed afterwards, during 
the Middle Ages, the duchy of Spoletium, and was called Su- 
biirbicarium because it depended on the prsefect of the city. 
Spoletuji or Spoletium (now Spoleto), in a strong position 
on the Apennines, and commanding the fertile valley of the 
Tinia, seems to have been the metropolis. 

56. III. Valeria, south of Picenum Suburbicarium, con- 
sisted of the ancient Sabini and part of Latium, and received 
its name from the Valerian military road. Via Valeria, 
which passed by Tibur and Alba Fucentia, to Corjinium, 
through the Sabini to the Peligni, and northward along the 
coast of Picenum. This Valeria must not be confounded with 
the other already mentioned as the military frontier of the 
diocese of Illyricum (45 and 47). Metropolis, Amiternuji 
(now Amiterno, near Aquila), southeast of Spoletium, in the 
highest range of the Apennines. The ancient Latium — La- 
tium Vetus — the cradle of Roman power, lay southwest of 
Valeria, and was not numbered among the provinces, being ad- 
ministered by the prefect of the city. 

IV. Samnium, east of Valeria, had preserved its ancient 
name, and extended to the coast of the Adriatic. Corfinium 
(now S. Pelino), near the Aternus, is supposed to have been 
its metropolis. 

57. V. Camrania, south of Samnium, had likewise retained 
its ancient name, and its high reputation for fertility and enjoy- 
ment, though it sufi"ered terribly from the Gothic war in 410, 
and became then the grave of the Visigoths as it formerly had 
been of the Carthaginians under Hannibal.'^ Neapolis (Na- 
ples), on its splendid bay at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, was the 
most important city of the province, and, no doubt, its metro- 
polis. Beneventum, on the southeast of Naples, had pre- 
served both its rank and population. Since Vesuvius had 
become a burning volcano, Campania seemed to be more fertile 
than before ; the exuberant soil of Capua, Nola, and Neapolis, 
aflbrded some consolation for the loss of the cities that lay 
buried imder ashes and lava ; the inhabitants were wealthy ; 
the commerce flourishing, and the islands on the coast were 
adorned with palaces and pleasure houses. 

VI. Apulia, northeast of Campania, formed one province 
together with Calabria, southeast, along the shores of the 

" "The prostrate soiith to lier destroyer j-ields 
Her boasted titles and her golden fields ; 
With grim delight the brood of winter view 
A brighter daj-, and skies of azure liue, 
Scent the new fragrance of the opening rose, 
And qunff tlie pendant vintage .is it grows." 



WESTERN ROMAN EMPIRE. 



17 



Adriatic. Luceria (now Lucera), in the great Apulian plain, 
seems to have been the metropolis. Tarentum^ on the gulf 
of the same name, was the most flourishing city in Calabria. 
VII. Bruttium occupied the western peninsula of southern 
Italy, opposite to Sicily, and formed one province together with 
LucANiA, on the north, between Bruttium and Campania. Con- 
SENTiA (now Cosenza), in Bruttium, may have been the me- 
tropolis ; it was here that Alaric, after the pillage of Rome, 
died in the midst of his victories, and was buried, with his 
splendid spoils, in the bed of the small river Busentmus^ 
whose waters the Barbarians had led off, and afterwards re- 
stored to their natural channel, a. d. 410. P^stum (now a 
swamp, with magnificent temple ruins, near the village of Ca- 
paccio), on the Posidonian gulf, was the principal town of 
Lucania. 

58. VIII. SiciLiA (Sicily), the most fertile and beautiful 
of the islands of Italy, formed a province which comprehended 
likewise the smaller islands situated on its coast. Syracus/e 
(Syracuse), on the eastern coast, though much reduced from 
its former splendor and circumscribed to the small island of 
Ortygia, was still the metropolis of the island. Lilyb^um 
(now Marsala), on the western promontory of that name (now 
Cape Boco), was early occupied by the Vandals from Africa. 

IX. Sardinia, on the northwest of Sicily, though almost 
of the same extent' and fertility as that island, was yet a pro- 
vince of little importance ; its metropolis was Cabalis (now 
Cagliari), on a gulf of the southern coast ; its maritime towns 
were flourishing, but the interior not cultivated. 

Corsica, north of Sardinia, was, after Valeria, the small- 
est province of the diocese. Aleria, a small town with a 
port, on the eastern coast, seems to have been the metropolis. 
The island was celebrated for honey and oysters. 

59. Diocese of Africa. — This diocese, whose extent we 
have mentioned above (44), contained, like those of Asia and 
Macedonia (18 and 36), a proconsulate, consisting of Africa 
proper or Carthage, and, besides, five pi-ovinces : 1st, Byza- 
cena ; 2d, Numidia ; 3d, Tripolitana ; 4th, Mauritania 
Sitifensis ; 5th, Mauritania CcBsariensis. The two first 
were governed by Consulars, and the three following by Presi- 
dents. The military Count of Africa had two Dukes under 
his command, one in Tripolitana, and the other in Mauritania 
Csesariensis, to keep in cheek the roving mountaineers on 
Mount Atlas. We shall now describe the African provinces 
in their geographical order from east to west, beginning with 
the African Proconsulate. 

60. Proconsulate of Africa Propria consisted of Car- 
thage and the ancient Zeugitana ; it was then the granary of 
Rome, as Egypt was that of Constantinople. It was governed 
by a proconsul, who did not stand under the jurisdiction of the 
vicar of Africa, but immediately under the prsetorial prsefect of 
Italy. Carthage, the metropolis, had risen from her ruins, 
and, though she might yield to the imperial prerogative of 
Constantinople, to the trade of Alexandria or to the splendor 
of Antioch, she still maintained the second rank in the west, as 
the Rome of the African world. She contained the manufac- 
tures, arms and treasures of six provinces and schools and gym- 
nasia of high repute ; her ports, public buildings and institu- 
tions were magnificent ; but the reputation of the Carthaginians 
was not equal to that of their country and the reproach of 
Punic faith still adhered to their subtle and faithless char- 
acter. Their luxury and licentious manners had corrupted 
their morals and extinguished their courage ; and in 439 
that immense city yielded to the daring and headlong bravery 
of G-enseric and his Vandals, who soon founded a Barbaric king- 
dom on the ruins of the richest provinces of the western empire. 

Utica (now in ruins near Porto Farina), on the northern 
coast ; Hadrumetum (now Hamamet), on the eastern coast. 

8 



61. I. Tripolitana, the most eastern of the African 
dioceses, on the south and east of the great Syrtis, received its 
name from its three principal cities all situated on ther coast. 
Leptis Magna (now Lebida), its metropolis ; (Ea (now Tripo- 
lis), east of Leptis ; Sabrata (now Sabart or old Tripolis), west 
of (Ea. 

II. Byzacena, west of the lesser Syrtis, with the me- 
tropolis Byzacium, formerly Tacape (now Kabes), situated 
on the coast opposite to the large island of Meninx (now 
Gerbe). 

62. IH. Numidia, west of Africa proper, had retained its 
ancient name, but only the eastern part of the old province. 
Constantina, formerly Cirta, the ancient capital of the Nu- 
midian kings, obtained her modern name from Constantine, and 
was the metropolis of the province. Hippone or Hippo 
Regius (now Bona), a strongly fortified city on the coast, was 
the archiepiscopal seat of St. Augustine, who died there during 
the siege of the city by the Vandals in 430. 

IV. Mauritania Sitifensis, west of Numidia, consisted 
of the western part of that ancient province and of a small 
part of Maui-itania. Its metropolis was ,Sifeti (now Setif), 
in the interior of the country. 

V. Mauritania C^sariensis, west of the former, compre- 
hended the greater part of the ancient province of Mauritania 
Orientalis, and took the name of its metropolis CjEsarea (now 
Vacur), on the cojist of the Mediterranean opposite to the Ba- 
learic islands. 

PRiEFECTURE OF THE GrAULS. 

63. Extent and Divisions. — The prsefecture of the Gauls 
comprehended besides the Transalpine G-aul, 1st, Old Spain, 
with the Balearic islands, and Mauritania Tingitana in 
the northwest of Africa ; 2d, the southern portion of the island 
of Britain as far north as the Antoninian Wall. These three 
large countries formed three dioceses — Spain, the Gauls, and 
Bretain, which were subdivided in twenty-nine provinces, and 
eveij thirty, as we shall see below (69). 

64. Diocese of Hispania. — It was governed by a Vicar, 
and contained seven provinces; 1st, BcBtica ; 2d, Lusitania ; 
3d, Gallicia ; 4th, Tarraconensis ; 5th, Carthaginiensis ; 
6th, Tingitana ; 7th, Baleares Insulcs. The three first were 
governed by Consulars, and the four others" by Presidents. 
We will describe them from south to north. 

65. I. Tingitana or Mauritania Tingitana, separated 
on the east by the river Malva, from the Csesarean Mauritania 
of the Italian prsefecture, extended westward to the Atlantic 
Ocean, and owed its name to its metropolis Tingis (Tangier), 
on the western entrance of the Straits of Gades (now Gibraltar), 
which separated it from Spain. 

II. B^tica (afterwards in Arabic : Vandalos, Andalos, 
now Andalusia), consisting of the southernmost part of Spain, 
received its name from the river Bsetis (by the Arabs after- 
wards called Wady-al-Kebir, or Guadalquiver), which flowed 
through that fertile and beautiful ^jrovince. Hispilis (now Se- 
ville), on the left bank of the river, was the metropolis. Cor- 
duba (now Cordova) was the next city in rank. 

III. Lusitania, northwest of Boetica, along the coast of 
the Atlantic, had for metropolis Emerita Augusta (now Me- 
rida), on the river Anas (by the Arabs called Wady-Ana, now 
Guadiana). 

66. IV. Carthaginiensis. northeast of Boetica, along the 
coast of the Mediterranean, obtained its name from Carthago 
Nova (now Carthagena). 

V. Tarraconensis, north of the former, with the metro- 
polis Tarraco (now Tarragona). This was the most impor- 
tant city in Spain during the dominion of the Romans, and no 



IS 



WESTERN ROMAN EMPIRE. 



doubt the residence of the Vicar and the military Count of the 
diocese. 

VI. G-ALLyT;ciA (now Galicia), on the northwest of the Penin- 
sula, received its name from the warlike people, the Galloeci or 
Grallaici, who so long had defended their independence against 
the Romans. Metropolis, Bracara Augusta (now Braga), 
north of the Durius (Duero). 

VII. Insula Baleares, situated opposite the eastern coast 
of Spain. Palma or Balearis Major (now Majorca), was per- 
haps the metropolis. Portus Magonis (now Port-Mahon) was 
the principal town in Balearis Minor (now Minorca). Spain 
was the most flourishing province of the empire in the fourth 
century. Many profound philosophers and poets of bold and 
lofty genius were natives of Spain ; and the mechanical arts 
flourished without degrading the high spirit of the nation. It 
furnished the empire with brave and hardy warriors, with 
brass, iron, gold, silver and noble steeds ; of wine and oil 
there was abundance ; in the less fertile parts of the country 
flax and spartum were cultivated.'^ 

67. Diocese of the Gauls. — This diocese was governed 
by a Vicar, and embraced all Transalpine Gaul between the 
Pyrenees, the Mediterranean, the Alps, the Rhine, the British 
Ocean and the Atlantic ; it was divided into seventeen provinces 
after the notitia im2Jerii ; but the first of these provinces (69) 
was already subdivided into two others at the period of our 
map. These provinces were according to, their importance : 
1st, FiewMe?2sz5, towards the close of the fourth century divided 
into prima and secunda ; 2d, Licgdunensis Prima ; 3d, Ger- 
'inania Prima; 4th, Gerniania Secunda ; 5th, Belgica Prima ; 
6th, Belgica Secunda ; 7th, Alpes Maritimce ; 8th, Alpes 
Pennince and Grajee; 9th, Maxifna Sequanorum ; 10th, 
Aqidtania Pritna ; 11th, Aquitania Secunda; \2i\\, Novem- 
popidana ; I3th, Nar bo nejisis Prima; 14th, Narhonensis Se- 
cunda; 15th, Lugdunensis Secunda; I6th, Lugduncnsis 
Tcrtia ; 17th, Lugdunensis Quarta or Senonia. 

Gerniania Prima, Belgica Secunda, and Maxima Sequano- 
rum, were occupied by Dukes with their troops for the defence 
of the frontiers ; another Duke had the inspection of the n»rth- 
western sea-coast against the pirates. The entire coast, from 
the Scaldis on the east, to Gobamm, Promontorium — the 
western cape — were divided into two naval districts : Ar- 
inoricanus et Nericanus Tractus. We shall now shortly de- 
scribe these seventeen provinces in their order from south- 
west to northeast. 

68. I. Novempopulana, later Vasconia (now Gascogne), 
was situated at the base of the Pyrenees, and on the south- 
west of Gaul and Aquitania, whose third province it formed ; 
and owed its name to the nine Gallic tribes that occupied 
it. Metropolis, Elusa, in the centre of the province ; a title 
which it surrendered in the ninth century to the town Ausci 
(now Auch), on the southeast. 

II. Aquitania Secunda, north of the former, along the 
coast of the ocean, extended to the Liger (now Loire), with 
Burdigala (now Bordeaux), on the Garumna (Garonne) for its 
metropolis. 

III. Aquitania Prima, east of Secunda, with the metropolis 
Bituriges or Avariciom (Bourges), in the north of the province. 

69. IV. Narbonensis Prima, south of Aquitania Prima, 
ran along the Gallic gulf from the Pyrenees to the RJwdam/s 
(Rhone). Narbonensis had formerly been a vast province, and 
given its name to the four following provinces. Its metropolis 
was Narbo Martius (Narbonne), on the coast. 

V. Viennensis or Narbonensis Tertia, east of the former, 
extended along the left bank of the Rhone from its mouth till 
its exit from Lake Leman. It became divided into two pro- 

'' A kind of hrnoin for making cables, (fee, 



vinces toward the close of the fourth centui-y, as we have men- 
tioned above (67). Viennensis Prima on the north, with the 
metropolis Vienna on the Rhone, and Viennensis Secunda in 
the south, with the metropolis Arelas or Arelate (Aries), a 
beautiful and populous city, the residence of the Prastorial 
Praefect for the Gauls. The poet Ausonius calls it the Gallic 
Rome — Gallula Roma Arelas. 

VI. Narbonensis Secunda, east of Viennensis, with the 
metropolis, Aqu/e Sexti/e (now Aix in Provence), which took 
its name from its celebrated hot springs. Massilia (now Mar- 
seilles) the ancient Greek colony, and flourishing commercial 
town. Forum lulii (now Frejus), on the southeast, served 
as a naval station for the imperial fleets. 

VII. Alpes Maritimce, east of the former, along the ridge 
of the Alpine chain. Metropolis Eburodunum (now Embrun), 
near the source of the P)7'tientia (Durance). 

VIII. Alpes Pennince et Graj^e, northeast of the former, 
were, together with the Alpes Maritimae, considered as one of 
the provinces of the Narbonensis. Metropolis Darantasia, 
(now Moutier in the valley of the Tarantaise), on the upper 
Isara, in the midst of the highest Alps. 

70. IX. Lugdunensis Prima, north of Viennensis, so 
called from its metropolis Lugdunum (now Lyons), on the junc- 
tion of the Arar (Saone) and the Rhone, one of the largest 
and most important cities in Gaul. Matisco (now Macon), on 
the Arar, and Augustodunum (now Autun), more north- 
west, had imperial manufactures of armor and arrows. The 
whole of central Gaul had in the olden time been called Cel- 
tica, afterwards Lugdunensis was substituted, and comprehend- 
ed besides the Prima, the following three provinces : 

X. Lugdunensis Quarta, northwest of the Prima, more 
frequently called Senonia, from its metropolis Senones (now 
Sens), on the Icauna (now Yonne). Parish, earlier Lutetia 
Parisiorum (now Paris) on the SequoMa (Seine), began already 
to have great importance from the time of the residence of the 
Emperor Julian, the Apostate, in a. d. 355. Of the numerous 
Roman ruins of ancient Paris, only the relics of the palace of 
Julian and the catacombs are left. 

XI. Lugdunensis Tertia, west of the former, embraced 
all the peninsula of Armorica, whose warlike inhabitants during 
the distress of the empire threw off the yoke, and recovered 
their independence — Metropolis CyESARODUNun or Turones 
(now Tours), on the Loire. 

XII; Lugdunensis Secunda, northeast of the former. 
Metropolis Rotomagus (now Rouen), on the Seine. 

71. XIII. Belgica Secunda, all along the Fretum Galli- 
ciim or the Channel. Metropolis Duro-Cortorum or Remi 
(now Rheims), with military depots and manufactures of arms. 
— (Swessicuzes (Soissons),, and Ambianum (Amiens), on the 
Somme, had likewise celebrated manufactures of defensive ar- 
mor and military engines. 

XIV. Belgica Prima, east of the former. Metropolis 
Trever,! (now Treves), with manufactures of arms and military 
engines, had been one of the richest and ' most considerable 
cities in Gaul, and the residence of the Prsetorial Prasfect of 
the diocese, before it had been transferred to Aries during the 
war with the Franks. 

XV. Maxima Sequanorum, southeast of Belgica Prima.. 
Metropolis Vesontio (Besancon), on the Dttbis (Dubs). 

XVI. Germania Prima or Superior, east of Belgica Pri- 
ma, along the banks of the Rhine. Magontiacum (Mayence), 
on the left bank of that river, was the metropolis. It was pro- 
tected by the long line of fortifications which Hadrian had 
drawn from the Mcenus (Mayn) across the present Franconia 
to Regidm (Ratisbon), on the Danube. Argenioratum (now 
Strasburgh), more south, likewise on the river, was the residence 
of a military count, with depots and arsenals. Near the city 



WESTERN ROMAN EMPIRE. 



19 



a great battle took place with the united kings of the Ale- 
manni in 357, in which Julian defeated them gallantly and drove 
them across the river. 

XVII. G-ERMANiA Secunda or Inferior, northwest of the 
former, extended along the left bank of the Rhine until its 
discharge in the German Sea. Metropolis Colonia Ageippina 
(Colog-ne), on the left bank of the river. — Asciburgiu')n (now 
Asburgh), Bonna (now Bonn). — Confluentes (now Coblentz), 
on the junction of the Moselle with the Rhine. — Borbetoma- 
gus or Vormacia (now Worms). All these cities on the Rhine, 
and those on the upper Danube, such as Ratisbon, Batava- 
Castra (Passau), and Vienna, had in their origin been Roman 
camps — castra-stativa — ^of the sixteen legions, that, for cen- 
turies, were stationed on the borders of Germany. The neigh- 
boring Gallic and German inhabitants had successively settled 
around these bulwarks, for their protection and commerce. 
Foreign merchants from distant countries had there opened 
their markets and fairs, and thus those wealthy and powerful 
cities arose, which later during the Middle Ages as free impe- 
rial towns — Freie Reichsstddte — were to form their armed 
confederacies and bear down on the spear-point the despotism 
of the proud nobility of the Germanic empire. During the civil 
wars between the wrangling sons of Constantino (340-355), 
the Roman garrisons had been recalled from the Rhine, and the 
flourishing provinces of Gaul were thus exposed to the incur- 
sions of the German barbarians beyond the river. Swarms 
of Franks and Alemanni {77) now crossed and spread devas- 
tation as far as the Loire. Forty-five populous cities, Tongres, 
Cologne, Treves, Worms, Spire, and Strasburgh, besides a far 
greater number of open towns and villages were pillaged and 
for the most part reduced to ashes. The Alemanni already 
began to establish themselves on the left bank of the Rhine, 
and the Franks occupied the island of the Batavians (now 
Holland) and Toxandria (Brabant), when Julian, the young 
emperor, appeared with his legions, and in the brilliant campaigns 
of 356-358, defeated the Alemanni at Strasburgh, driving them 
headlong across the Rhine, and making a treaty with the power- 
ful Franks, permitted them to settle down in the depopulated 
province of Germania Secunda (now Belgium), where they re- 
mained faithful allies of the Romans in the later wars with At- 
tila and the Huns (451), until they, under Clovis, burst forth 
in 486 to share the spoils of the perishing Empire of the West. 

72. Diocese of Britain. — Roman Britain, which em- 
braced the whole of modern England, and the Lowlands of 
Scotland, as far as the wall of Agricola, between the Frith of 
Forth and the Clyde, formed a diocese governed by a Vicar, 
and was subdivided into five provinces, about whose position, 
borders, and cities, we have very imperfect information. These 
provinces were, 1st, Maximo. Cezsariensis ; 2d, Valentia ; 
3d, Britannia Prima ; 4th, Britannia Secunda ; 5th, 
Flavia Ccesariensis. The two first were governed by Consu- 
lars, and the three others by Presidents. Two military con- 
suls and a duke were stationed in this far-off diocese, for its 
lefence against the warlike Caledonians in the unsubdued 
Highlands on the north of the island. We begin our descrip- 
tion with the south. 

73. I. Flavia Ccesariensis,'" which received its imperial 
name from Flavins Constantius Chlorus, the father of the great 
Constantino, contained the eastern part of the island, the Mer- 
cia and East Anglia of the Anglo-Saxons in the 7th century. 

'" Great doubt exists with regard to the position of Flavia Cassari- 
cnsis, and Britannia Prima. We follow here Spruner, in the latest edi- 
tion of his Medi£e,val Atlas, and in his Atlas Antiquus. Professor An- 
sart, in his transLation of the Historical Atlas of Kruse (1834), and Dr. 
Wiltsch, in his excellent Ecclesiastical Atlas (1844), have both placed 
Flavia Ca?sariensis in the south, so that the two Britannia; lie east and 
west together. 



The Abus (Tyne), divided it from Maxima Cacsariensis on the 
north, the Sabrina (Severn), from Britannia Secunda on the 
west, and the Tamesis (Thames), from Britannia Prima on 
the south. The metropolis must have been either Londin- 
lUM (London), on the Tamesis, or Verulamium (St. Albans, 
in Hertfordshire), one of the earliest and most important colo- 
nies of the Romans. 

II. Britannia Prima embraced the south of the island, from 
the mouth of the Tamesis westward to the Sabrianum JEstua- 
Hum (the Bristol Channel). Metropolis Durovernuji (now 
Canterbury), on the southeast of the province. Vcnta Belga- 
rum (now Winchester) was a thriving colony of Belgians, set- 
tled in the island. Dubrce (Dover), on the cliffs of the Fre- 
tum Gallicum (British Channel), opposite to the Gallic har- 
bor Itius (now Calais), the nearest passage across. 

Britannia Secunda formed the western mou.ntainous por- 
tion of the island, between the Severn and the Irish Channel, 
the modern Wales. Metropolis may have been Isca Silurum 
(now Caerleon), on the mouth of the Severn, the ancient capi- 
tal of the Silures. 

IV. Maxima CiESARiENSis lay on the north of the 
Humber (Northumbria), as far as the wall of Hadrian on 
the Tyne. Metropolis Eboracum (now York), in the centre 
of the province, the seat of the vicar of Britain. It was a 
large, well fortified, and flourishing city, the centre of all the 
Roman military forces and arsenals in the island. Both Sep- 
timus Severus, and Constantius Chlorvis, made a long sojourn 
in York, and both died there. 

V. Valentia was the northernmost part of the British dio- 
cese, and comprehended the whole district inclosed between 
the southern wall of Hadrian, and the earlier outer wall of Agri- 
cola on the Forth, between Edinburgh and Glasgow ; thus it 
comprised the later county of Northumberland, and the Scot- 
tish Border and Lowlands. It was only a military line, with- 
out any regular Roman settlement.'''' The great Julius Agri- 
cola, after his brilliant victories against the Caledonians, at 
the base of the Grampians (the highlands of Perth), built the 
flrst fortiflcation across the narrow interval of forty miles, 
which he secured by a line of military stations. Yet it 
proved but an insecure protection, and Hadrian, therefore, in 
his enthusiasm for architecture, built in 132, the beautiful 
double wall, now in its ruins, called the Picts^ Wall, running 
for eighty Roman miles, from the mouth of the Eden river 
and the Frith of Solway, near Carlisle, north of the Tyne, to 
Newcastle. It was a magnificent work, with eighty-one strong 
castles, between which were located numerous smaller towers. 
Four gates can still be traced. Between the two ranges of 
walls ran a Roman military road of immense flag-stones, lined 
with extensive barracks, quarters for cavalry, and fortified store- 
houses and arsenals. Interesting inscriptions of the old legions 
have been found, for instance : Ala Prima Astorum, and Ala 
Saviniana, Ala Petriana (all three cavalry), Cohors Prima 
Batavorum, Cohors Prima Tiingrorum, Cohors Quarta 
Gallorum, Cohors Secunda Dalmatortom, Cohors Prima 
JElia Dacorum, which show how many different nationalities 
were gathered beneath the Roman eagles, and joined company 
together. During the happy reign of Antoninus Pius, the 
Romans advanced once more into Caledonia, and the earlier 
embankment of Agricola was now restored, by a turf rampart, 
erected on solid foundations of stone. It was considered as 
the limes imperii, and called Vallum Antonini. The dis- 
trict was, however, soon invaded by the barbarians from the 

" The masters of the fairest and most wealthy climates of tlie 
globe, turned with contempt from the gloomy hills, assailed by the 
winter tempest, from lakes concealed in a blue mist, and from cold and 
lonely heaths, over which the deer of the forest were chased by troops 
of naked barbarians. — Gibbon, chapter 1. 



20 



FIRST PERIOD.— THE WORLD OF THE BARBARIANS. 



sea-shore, and though Count Theodosius reconquered it, and 
gave it its name Valentia, in honor of the Emperor Valenti- 
nian, yet it was definitively lost for the empire in 395, when 
the legionaries could hardly defend themselves behind the 
still stronger walls of Hadrian ; and the daring Picts and 
Scots carried their depredations among the peaceful and dis- 
armed Britons on the Humber. 

Such was the state of the Roman Empire, in a. d. 395. 



^ II. THE WORLD OF THE BARBARIANS, 

AT THE CLOSE OF THE FOURTH CENTUEY. 

74. General Division. — The Barbarian or extra-Roman 
World, during the fourth century, immediately before, or 
during the great migration of the northern tribes across the 
Danube and the Rhine, between a. d. 376 and 410, can, with 
regard to the relations of those nations to the Roman Empire, 
be divided into three great parts. 1 st. The counti-ies situated 
in the centre and north of Europe and the northwest of Asia, 
which were inhabited by Celts, Germans, Scandinavians, 
Slavi, Finns, and Huns. 2d. The countries in Asia, south 
of Mount Caucasus, on the eastern frontiers of the empire, 
occupied by Chazars, Tartars, Armenians, Persians, and 
Sarazens. 3d. The regions of northern Africa, from Egypt 
to the Atlantic, and extending south of the empire, toward 
the great Libyan desert, with their wild Moorish tribes of Ama- 
zirghi, Kabyles, Berbers, and other mixed Ethiopian races. 



I. Northern Countries. 

75. Regions and Principal Nations. — On the north and 
northeast of the lioman frontiers beyond the Rhine, the Danube, 
the Black Sea, and the chain of Mount Caucasus, vast plains 
extend to the shores of the ocean and its many gulfs, which em- 
brace tiie European Continent on the north. These plains are, 
on the east, bordered by the high range of Mount Oural, which 
only by a swelling hill country, forming the water -shed of nu- 
merous rivers, is connected on the southwest with the Carpa- 
thian and Bohemian Mountains of Central Europe. In the 
north and northwest these plains were then covered with dense 
and sombre forests. On the southeast, toward the Pontus and 
the Caspian, they formed open steppes, with fertile pasture 
grounds along the banks of the rivers, where from times im- 
memorial, Scythian and Sarmatian nations roamed as no- 
mades with their herds and flocks. All these countries were 
but little known to the ancients. The G-reeks and Romans 
were ignorant of their limits ; and they designated them con- 
fusedly under the vague denominations of Germania, Sarma- 
tia Etiropxa, Sarmatia Asiatica, and Scythia. During the 
first two centuries of our era, while the empire still subsisted 
in its full force, the Romans cared little about the revolu- 
tions of those distant regions, except only those of the Ger- 
mans, who were continually attacking the Roman garrisons 
on the frontier lines of the Rhine and the Danube. 

The conquest of Germany, and the extension of the Ro- 
man frontiers to the Baltic — Simis Codanus or Mare Sue- 
vicum — had been a favorite idea in the times of Augustus. 
But the terrible defeat of the Roman legions, under Varus, 
on the banks of the Luppia (Lippe), near Paderborn, in the 
year 9 a. c, and the little advantage of the lafer avenging 
expeditions of Drusus and Germanicus, made the empe- 
rors give up those fond hopes, and henceforth they cir- 
cumscribed themselves to the defence of the river lines and 
the Hadrian walls, between the Mayn and Danube beyond them. 
But the Germanic nations, who separately had been vanquish- 
ed and repelled by Roman discipline, began, during the third 



century, to form large confederacies of kindred tribes : the 
Franks on the lower, and the Alemanni (all men) on the upper 
Rhine ; the Quadi, Marcomanni, and Boioarii (Bavarians) on 
the Danube ; the Visigoths, Ostrogoths, and Gepidse on the 
Pontus. Like the waves of the tempestuous ocean, against 
the opposing dikes, they continued their attacks against the 
weakened and demoralized empire with various success, 
until, in the year 376, the Huns, from the Volga, sub- 
dued all the eastern Germanic and Sclavonic nations, and 
uniting with them, fell upon the more western tribes, and forced 
them, by a mighty, simultaneous effort, to cross the rivers, and 
to seek new settlements in the civilized provinces of the 
South. Thus the sudden appearance of the Huns in a. d. 375 is 
the signal for the general irruption of the Germans, and the 
dismemberment of the Roman Empire. 

We shall now attempt to describe the nations of indepen- 
dent Germany in their seats, immediately before that great 
event which changed the whole political position of Europe, 
and the empire of the Huns, under Balomir and Attila (376 
— 451), at that time embracing the greater part of ancient 
Scythia and Sarmatia, from Mount Oural to the Danube, and 
to the very heart of Gei-many. 

A.— GERMANIA. 

76. Its Extent. — Ancient Germany extended from the 
coasts of the Germanic Ocean and the Baltic, on the north, to 
the banks of the Danube on the south. On the west it bordered 
on the Rhine — though some Germanic tribes were early seated 
on the left bank of that river, and there mixed up with the 
Belgians. On the east, the Vistula and the Carpathians sepa- 
rated it nominally from Sarmatia. We say nominally, because 
so early as the third century the Gothic tribes from Scandinavia 
had already begun their migrations toward the Black Sea, and 
had, after the conquest of Sarmatia, formed those powerful Ger- 
manic Empires of the Ostrogoths, Visigoths, and Gepidas, 
which extended the German tongue from the Rhine to the 
Tlianais (Don).'* The Romans being almost entirely un- 
acquainted with the countries north of the Baltic, counted the 
large peninsula of Jutland — Chersonesus Cimbrica — the 
Danish Archipelago, and Scandinavia (Sweden and Nor- 
way), as part of Germany. Scandinavia they believed to 
be a dreary island, situated in the Northern Ocean — Oceanus 
Septentrionalis — and their poets frequently descant upon the 
horrors of the Ultima Thule. 

77. Early Migrations. — Through the dim traditions of 
early ages we discover that different nations, descending from 
the table lands of Mount Caucasus, and the distant Himalaya, 
took a western direction toward Europe. They all con- 
cur to prove that that continent was originally peopled by four 
great streams of population from central Asia, which followed 
each other at intervals so distant and so distinct as to possess 
languages clearly separable from one another, though the com- 
mon root of all is found in the Sanscrit, the sacred language of 
the Hindoos. All these nations have, therefore, by modern 
Philologians, been called the Indo- Germanic Race. The 
earliest of these nations, the Pelasgi, we meet already in the 
eighteenth century, b. c, occupying the Hesperian and lUyrian 
Peninsulas, that is, Italy afld Greece, and the islands of the 
Egean. From the many Pelasgian tribes sprang the Greek, 
Illyrian, and Italian nationalities, and their langvxages. Greek 
and Latin stand as sisters in relation to the ancient Pelasgian 
mother tongue. The second migration, that of the Celts, and 
their kindred the Cimmerians (Cimbri), took a more Tiorthern 
direction, and settled in early times both in Spain, France 

'* This is the reason why some writers from the fourtli century say 
that Germany comprised the whole country westward of the Tlianais 



FIKST PERIOD.— GBRMANIA. 



21 



\ 



and in the British Islands, where the Welsh still preserve the 
name of Kymri ; other Cimbri seem to have taken possession 
of Jutland, whence they later migrated to Italy, and were de- 
stroyed by Marius (b. c. 101). The third race, the Germanic 
tribes, finding the south and west occupied by Pelasgians and 
Celts, settled in the centre and continued their conquests north 
against the Finns or Chudes, already from remote times in- 
habiting Scandinavia. In the east the Germans were, in sev- 
eral regions, mixed up with the Sarmatian or Sclavonic tribes, 
who form the fourth race, whose progress westward occurs in 
much later times, i. c, the fourth and fifth centuries, and con- 
■ tinues until the 1 1th arid 12th, because the Sclavonians followed 
slowly in the track of the Germans, being themselves pushed on 
from the east by the Huns, and later by the Chazars and other 
fierce Turcoman tribes from beyond the Caspian. Numerous 
detached Sclavonic hordes settled in the abandoned lands between 
the Danube and the Baltic, and became the neighbors of the 
Germans on the Elbe and the Adriatic. It is from the 
branches of the German stem that, not only our immediate 
forefathers the Angles, Saxons and Danes, but also those of 
the other celebrated nations of modern Europe, unquestionably 
have descended. The German race was divided into two na- 
tionalities, the Scandinavian or Norman, and the Dutch 
(Deutch) or Gothic. To the first belong the Danes, Longo- 
bards (Lombards), Angles, Jutes, Swedes, Norwegians and 
Icelanders. To the main German stock the mighty people of 
the Goths, the Souabians, the Bojoars (Bavarians), the Mai-ko- 
manni in Bohemia, the Thuringians in central Germany, the 
Franks on the Rhine, the Vandals, Burgundians, Herules, 
Rugians — all on the Baltic, the Vistula and Oder, the Fris- 
ians on the German Sea, and the Saxons on the Elbe, the 
neighbors of the Angles, Jutes and Daaes, and partaking of 
their dialect, religion and manners. 

All these tribes of the Germanic race resembled each other 
in their general character, although each had its particular 
virtues or vices : thus to make a distinction, we say that the 
Goth was noble, honest, and sober ; the Vandal and Herule 
fierce and bloodthirsty rovers; the Aleman and Bavarian 
swaggering and intemperate ; the Frank lively, voluptuous and 
treacherous ; the Saxon sincere, daring, and always rough and 
ready. ' ' 

78. Description of the Country. — The general aspect of 
Germany during this period, was very different from what it is 
at the present day. It was then almost entirely covered with 
impenetrable forests, interspersed with pathless morasses and 
swamps, which rendered the atmosphere damp and cold. The 
banks of the lower Rhine, the Weser, and the Elbe were 
marshy, and the entire western coast of Holland, Hanover and 
Holstein — which now after the exertions of fifty consecutive 
generations, by immense dikes and bulwarks, secure the rich 
pasture lands (marsk) against the waves of the Germanic Ocean, 
were, at that remote time, exposed to the continual inundations 
of the stormy element. The most celebrated of all the forests 
of Germany, which inspired the Romans with shuddering and 
dismay, was the Hercynian forest, Hercynius Salttcs, extend- 

" The language of the Germans formed two distinct dialects, the 
high Gevma.n—Hoch-detUch — and the low German— Plaf-deutch. Of 
the first we possess the celebrated Gothic translation of the Gospels by 
Bishop Ulphilas, a. d. 348—88, in the Mceso-Gothic mother tongue— 
the oldest monument of the German language, and two highly interest- 
ing collections of Heroic songs— the Book of the Heroes or Heldenbuch, 
and the song of the Niebelungen, both from an early period of the 
middle ages. In the low Saxon, we have the Epic poem of Reineke 
Fox, the Saxon Mirror {Sachsenspiegel) and other poems. In the 12th 
century the Saxon dialect began to yield to the more polished dialect of 
Souabia, and the chivalrous poetry of the niinnesangers (troubadours) 
which then rose to become the written language, while the old Saxon 
dwindled down to a vulgar dialect spoken in Hanover and Holstein. 



ing from the sources of the Danube northward, between the 
Rhine and Mayn — the present Odenwald and Spessart — and 
crossing this river eastward through the whole breadth of Ger- 
many, north of Bohemia, joining the Carpathian range, and 
then descending upon the plains of Dacia or Moldau. It em- 
braced thus all the central mountain-ranges ' of Germany, the 
Ertz, Fichtel and Riesen-Gebirge, though it appears that the 
Romans had likewise particular names for different parts of 
it.* Caesar describes it as an impenetrable and dreary region, 
through which the reindeer, the elk, and the wild urus ranged 
at liberty, or were chased by the still wilder Souabian. "With 
the change in the climate the former of these useful animals 
have now retired northward to the pole, and constitute the 
principal food and wealth of the Laplanders ; while the v,rus 
(our ox) is still met with in the woods of eastern Poland. 

" Who would leave the softer climate of Italy, Asia or 
Africa," says the terrified Roman, " or fix his abode in that 
country where nature ofi'ers nothing but scenes of deformity ; 
where the land presents a dreary region, without form or cul- 
ture, and if Ave except the affection of a native for his mother 
soil, without a single allurement to make life supportable!" 
Yet in open villages, on the outskirts of those green forests, 
on the banks of those majestic rivers, lived a handsome, 
healthy, noble race, whom the pigmy Romans in their arro- 
gance and envy called Barbarian Giants ; and whom modern 
classical pedants most injudiciously have compared with 
the savage Redskins of the American forests. No ! the 
German Barbarians were made of steel of another temper ! 
— a race endowed with brilliant qualities of mind and body, 
which excited the dread and admiration of the all-conquering 
Romans themselves ; nay, history records no people who pos 
sessed nobler capacities and qualifications, rule and order, a 
sublime patriotism, fidelity and chastity, in a greater proper 
tion than the Germans. " There," says Tacitus, " no one 
smiles at vice, for in the Germans good morals effect wiore, than 
elsewhere good laws." This moral worth of the Germans, 
which beams through all their rudeness, their love of arms and 
strife, had its true basis in the sanctity of marriage and do- 
mestic happiness ; for these two important features determined 
the morality of the ancient Germans, as they do now that of 
the modern Americans. The children of the Germans were to 
their parents the dearest pledges of love ; nor was a trace to be 
found in Germany of the tyrannical power of the cruel Roman 
father over his children. 

79. Institutions. — In the institutions of the Germans we \ 
find already the origin of the Feudal System, which was en- 
tirely unknown among the Greeks and Romans of antiquity. 
The German lord — sedling — lives on his estate with his family, 
occupied with riding, hunting, feasting or fighting ; he despises 
all mechanical pursuits, and leaves the care of his farms to his 
licles or serfs, who are personally freemen and well treated, but 
furnish their lord with grain and cattle. They are only vas- 
sals, while prisoners of war or criminals become real slaves, at- 
tendant upon their masters like the servi of the Romans. All 
the German asdlings, with shield and lance, accompanied by 
their vassals, assembled on horseback at their national diet — 
mallum — ^where they chose their king [konig) from the most 
powerful family. The king wears long flowing hair as his 
particular distinction, but his power is very circumscribed ; 
and if unskilful or unfortunate in war, the nobles had the 
right to select another leader or herzog to lead them to battle. 
From these herzogs sprang afterwards the celebrated mayors 
of the palace — mayores domus~a.mong the Franks. At these 
malla, the young nobles received their arms and steeds, the 



^° f c. Marciana Silva for the Black forest — the Schwartz-wald — 
between the tipper Rhine, and the sources of the Danube. 



22 



FIRST PERIOD.— GERMANIA. 



4 



early origin of the arming of the knight in later ages. Among 
the Germans the oldest son inherits the paternal estate, the 
younger brothers are provided only with shield, lance and war- 
horse, and then sent off to fight their fortune elsewhere. Here 
we have the origin of the armed retinue which surrounded the 
German nobles ; for the young warriors would take military 
service at the estate or court of a neighboring chief, and thus 
become his sworn liegemen and follow his banner. The chiefs 
of highest note received the sword of justice, as Counts or Graf en, 
in the regions or Gaue, into which the valleys of Germany were 
divided, and they were later, after the conquest of the Roman 
j)rovinces, rewarded with estates and territories which they 
held with military tenure, and thus the earliest form of feudal- 
ity is established. The different German tribes were in con- 
tinual hostility with one another, and their eternal feuds gave 
the greatest security to the Roman empire. Chieftains defeat- 
ed at home, fled to the Romans and received aid to return 
sword in hand. Large bands of outlaws flocked together ; the 
sword gave a support no less than the plough. Thus rose that 
celebrated class of warriors by the Germans called Recken or 
Wardgen (Varoegs,) and by the Danes Vceringer or armed 
refugees, who sought their fortune in foreign lands. All these 
homeless warriors formed the flower, the vanguard of those im- 
mense swarms of armed tribes of a hundred nations,— Ger- 
mans, Scandinavians, and Sclavonians, whom we meet at the 
great migration in a. d. 376. The Germans fought with shield 
and lance, without heavy armor, in deep columns in the form 
of wedges. Their horse was formidable and much feared by the 
Romans on account of the select bodies of young archers, who 
were exercised to keep pace with the cavalry by laying hold of 
the manes of the horses while charging at full career. Caesar 
owed his victory at Pharsalus to such a daring exploit of his 
auxiliary squadrons of Gei'man horse. 

80. Nations of Germany. — The most celebrated tribes 
inhabiting that country immediately before their invasion 
of the Roman empire in the fifth century, were the fol- 
lowing : 

The Frisians — Frisii — Friesen — inhabited the north- 
western coasts, from the Mosa to the Eider, and higher north, 
to Jutland. The Frisian tribes had, no doubt, been driven 
toward the sea by the Saxons ; yet on the low, swampy coast 
and the adjacent islands (now Holland and Friesland), they 
found a refuge, and were left to themselves. The whole na- 
ture of that country has now changed by the irruption of the 
sea ; the lake Flevo formerly received the northern branch of 
the Rhine, but became transformed into the open gulf of Zui- 
der-Sea. The North or Strand Frisians inhabited the coast 
of Schleswig — the West-wold — with its rich pasture lands (the 
Marsk), and the celebrated island of Helgoland — Heiligland, 
or Sacred Isle — at the mouth of the Elbe. There those 
hardy pirates had their naval stations, the sanctuaries of their 
idols, and their hoarded wealth, which they for centuries de- 
fended at the lance's point, against Danes and Saxons. 

The Franks — Franci — southeast of the Frisons (in 
the Prussian Rhine Provinces, Hassia, Nassau, and Belgium), 
from the Scaldis (Scheldt), and the Mosella to the Visurgis 
(Weser), formed a powerful confederation of the western Ger- 
man tribes, the Chamavi, Sicambri, Bructeri, Catti, and 
others mentioned by Tacitus, in the 1st century. ''' The Franks 
were divided into the Riptiarii, who remained on the banks of 
the Rhine, and westward as far as the Mosa (Meuse), and the 
Salii or Salian Franks, who had advanced and occupied the lands 

" Prof. Henry Leo opposes tlie idea of a Frankic Confederacy. Ac- 
cording to his views the Franks were the masters, and the vanquished 
triV)es stood to them in the relation of siabjects, Ledjonen {iffnavi, or 
cowards), who had lost part of their personal liberty. — History of the 
Middle Ages, Halle, 18.30, p. 85. 



beyond the Scheldt between the Samara, (Somme) and Ijie Mosa,! 
which Julian the Apostate ceded to them at the treaty of 358. 

81. The Alemanni, in the southwestern angle of Ger- 
many, on the Upper Rhine (in Baden, Wiirtemberg and Swit- 
zerland), were the ancient people of the Suevi, or Souabians, 
who, in the time of Caracalla (a. d. 211), had formed another 
confederacy with their neighbors the Turoni, Herman- 
duri, and other tribes, and, calling themselves Alemanni or 
All-men, invaded the territory behind the Hadrian Wall, 
where they afterwards obtained permanent seats. This 
was the most exposed part of the empire, between the upper 
Rhine and the springs of the Danube : it was called Sinus 
Imperii ; and indeed Rome nourished the serjoents in her 
bosom ! 

The Hermunduri, on the east, lived formerly on the up- 
per Mayn, toward the Danube (in Frauconia). They were a 
quiet people, who are more known from theiv brisk commerce 
with the Romans on the Danube, than by their military ex- 
ploits. After the invasion of the Bojoars, or Bavarians, they 
melt away, or mix with the Alemanni. 

The Burgundians — Burgundi or Burgundiones, — and 
the Vandals — Vandali — were at the time we speak of (395), 
the eastern neighbors of the Alemanni. They belong to the 
same race, and had formerly occupied the shores of the Baltic. 
The Burgundians have left their name in the small island. 
Bur giinder holm (Bornholm), in the Baltic. The Vandals, 
and their fierce companions, the Rngians, from the island of 
Riigen, and the Herules, being driven west by the Goths, fell 
upon the Suevi and Hermunduri, and carved out with their 
swords new and more pleasant settlements on the Mayn, where 
we find them preparing for the great expedition beyond the 
Rhine, in a. d. 406. ^The Herules and Rugians, however, re- 
mained on the Danube, where the country north of Vienna, to- 
ward Hungary, afterwards was called Rugiland. 

The Marcomans — Marcomanni — appear for the first time 
as the conquerors of the Bojoars — Boii — in their old seats in 
Boioheiiuni (Boheim or Bohemia). The vanquished people 
abandoned their native valley, and were by the Romans per- 
mitted to cross the Danube, and occupy parts of Rhsetia Se- 
cunda, which later received the name of Bojoaria, now Bava- 
ria. The Marcomans in Bohemia, and their allies, the Quadi, 
in Moravia, gave great trouble to the Romans on the Danube ; 
they even crossed the Alps, and appeared before Aquileja ; 
but Marcus Aurelius drove them back with so great a loss, 
that they afterwards disappear altogether, mingling up, no 
doubt, with Herules or Langobards. 

The Quadi were divided into two tribes, Ripuarii inhabit- 
ing the left bank of the Danube, and Transjiigitani beyond 
the mountains in Moravia and Silesia. 

The Varini or Varni inhabited the shores of the Baltic, 
west of the Rugians, in the present Pomerania, where they 
bordered on the Saxons and Langobards. 

82. The Saxons — Saxones — formed a powerful confedera- 
tion of Low-German tribes between the Baltic and the Elbe 
(in the present Holstein and the territory of Hamburg). But 
when the Franks began to invade Gaul, and settle beyond the 
Rhine, the Saxons likewise crossed the Elbe and occupied the 
lands which they had left. The Saxons thus extended on the 
Weser, and as far as the lower Rhine, absorbing the smaller 
tribes, who yielded to their power; and they soon began, with 
their neighbors and cousins the Angles and Jutes, to prepare 
their fleets for their piratic expeditions on the coasts, which 
half a century later were to carry them across the German 
Ocean, to the shores of Britain. 

The Langobards or Longobards. — Longobardi, East of 
the Saxons, in the present Lauenburg and Brandenburg, were 
originally a Scandinavian people from the north of Jutland, 



FIRST PERIOD.— SCANDINAVIA. 



23 



beyond the Liimfiord (the province called Vendila). That their 
language was Danish is sufficiently proved by their historian 
Paul Warnefrid and their laws afterwards in Lombardy. They 
received their ■aame—'' Longbeards''^ — according to tradition, 
^■from Odin, the All -father himself.^- They abandoned their 
( dreary home during an inundation of the ocean, and remained for 
a length of time on the Elbe. In a subsequent period, after the 
first great migration, we find them again in northern Panno- 
nia (Hungary), where they form a powerful and warlike na- 
tion. 

1 The Angles — Angli — north of the Saxons and Lango- 
/bards, beyond the river Eider (in the present Duchy of Schles- 
V wig, where a district is still called Angeln), were of Scandina- 
vian origin, like their neighbors the Jutes or Jotes — Jvtce — 
in the northern part of the ChersoJiesiis Cimbrica (Jutland). 
" Da7i and AnguV says the historian, Saxo the Grammarian, 
" were brothers,'''' a figurative statement of the fact that the 
Danish and English people are originally descended from the 
same ancestry. ^^^ They soon joined the Saxons in their mari- 
^time expeditions, and migrated with them and some of the 
Jutes, to Britain toward the middle of the 5th century. The 
Jute and the Angle or Sleswiger have in the mass of the peo- 
ple the same general character and manners, except the greater 
elasticity which the Angle has acquired by his intercourse 
with the Germans. The Jutlanders are proud of their hardy 
and enterprising ancestors. Hengist and Horsa, who first set- 
tled in Britain, were Jutes. Ruric, who in 852 with his north- 
ern Vikings laid the foundation of the Russian empire, was 
likewise a Jute, and so was king Gorm the Old, who united 
all the small principalities of the Danish Islands, and formed 
the monarchy in a. d. 880. Yet the Jutes, sooner than their 
neighbors, settled down to the more quiet pursuits of agricul- 
ture and cattle breeding. They are still a brave but peaceful 
and slow-speaking people ; they are considered as cunning and 
close; the proverb is, " sharp as a Jute." Though patient and 
enduring, they can be roused to the highest enthusiasm, and 
are strongly attached to their king and country. The Jutes 
are middle sized, short, fair haired, of a gentle and agreeable 
~^. physiognomy ; their women are lovely, with blue eyes, and rosy 
I cheeks, but as clumsy as their helpmates, clattering along on 
wooden shoes. Different is the character and deportment of the 
Saxon or Holsteiner. He is tall and handsome, with auburn hair. 
He is industrious, active, dexterous, ambitious, and quarrelsome ; 
he is arbitrary and imperious, witty, lively, but proud and 
overbearing towards his inferiors. He is full of talent and 



" Being sorely pressed by the surrounding Saxon and Sclavonian 
tribes, the Scandinavian emigrants addressed themselves to Frigga, the 
■wife and sister of Odin, to intercede for them with All-father. The god- 
dess then told them, says the Saga, to unite in prayers early in the 
morning, with their wives spreading their long, fair hair over face and 
bosom, in order to attract the attention of Odin. The Jutes followed 
the advice ; and when Odin at dawn of day was looking down upon the 
world from Valhalla, and beheld the shaggy people below, he turned 
to Frigga, and said, " Who are those longbeards ?" The goddess quickly 
answered: "Thou hast given thy people a name; give them now vic- 
tory and lands ! " And Odin smiled, and said : " I bless their swords, 
and grant them success." 

^^ The heathen Angles, Saxons, and Danes, had the same religion. 
Their common deities, Tyr, "Wodan (Odin), Thur (Tor), Frea (Freia), 
(fee, still survive, and are daily suggested to our memory in the appella- 
tions of the days of the week common to both Danes and Anglo-Saxons. 
Tlie same mystic beings: gud, god; alfar, aslfe, ylfe, elves; voetter, 
wihte, wights; dverger, dveorgs, dwarfs; jotnar, joetter, jotnas; troll, 
trolde, trolles ; hel, hell, &c., were worshipped or feared, by both na- 
tions, and occur not only in their ancient poetical remains, but also in 
the popular superstitions and ballads of their still flourishing posterity. 
Their gods and heroes have likewise the same names : "Woden, Odin ; 
Skiokl, Scyld ; Halfdan, Haelfdene ; Ubbe, Uffo, Offa ; Hrolfr, Rolf. 



capacity, but boastful, grandiloquent, and selfish. North of 
the Elbe, the country of the Saxons was on account of the 
forests, called Holz Sachsoi (Holsatia, Holstein), and was 
divided into three parts ; on the west Ditmars/c, with its free 
farmers the Ditmarskers ; on the south Stormarn, and east, on 
the Baltic Wcigria, which afterwards, when the greater part of 
the Saxons had crossed over to Britain, was occupied by roving 
tribes of Sclavonians, the Obotrites and Veudes. 



B.— SCANDINAVIA. 

85. Scandinavia is formed by the Danish islands Sweden 
and Norway. Denmark has its name, not from Dan Mykilati 
(themagnifficent),one of its earliest traditional kings, but from 
Daner or Dansker, a tribe of the great people of the Goths, 
who in early times occupied the Lowlands or open lands — 
Danne-Mark, south of the mountains of Gothland, and east of 
the islands of the Baltic. This open country on the mainland of 
Sweden was known as Scandia (Skaane) to the Romans. 
The Danish islands were sailed Eye-Gothland, and the Pe- 
ninsula of Jutland Reit-Gothland, because the Danish 
Goths would pass through the whole length of it on horse- 
back.'^' 

" In the farthest north," says Jornandes, the Gothic his- 
torian, " a number of hostile tribes dwelt in the country of Scan- 
zia, Scandinavia. This region extends itself to the boundary 
of the habitable globe, where in the winter a gloomy light 
covers the earth with darkness during forty days ; and in the 
summer the sun remains above the horizon for an equal time. 
Nearest to the Goths dwell the Sueihones (no doubt the Swedes), 
who with swift horses chase the wild animals that inhabit 
their woods, and transmit their valuable skins through a hun- 
dred different nations to Italy. In the same regions dwell the 
gentle race of Finns, and in the adjoining country, the Danes — 
a nation of huge statui'e. From this region came the Goths, who, 
landing on the Rugian coast, defeated the wandering hordes of 
Vandals, and five generations later occupied the countries con- 
tiguous to the Euxine Sea." The homestead of the Danes, 
therefore, was Zealand, Fyen, the circumjacent smaller isl- 
ands, and the fertile plains of Skaane, the latter of which 
remained an integral part of Denmark even after the Middle 
Ages, until the disasters of the Thirty Years' War, in 1648, 
when it was ceded to Sweden. Sweden was called Svea Land 
or Svea Rike, the kingdom of the Svear or Svenskar, like- 
wise a Gothic tribe, inhabiting the lands north of their 
brethren the Danes or Dansker. Norway does not signify 
" the way to the north pole," but North realm, Nord-iige, 
contracted Norge. The Norse call themselves Nordm<x,n.d 
(Normans), and speak the same written language as the Danes, 
though their pronunciation is as rough as their mountains. 

The early history of Scandinavia is mythical ; through the 
dim traditions we can discover only the arrival of Odin and his 
asars or priests, from Asa-gaard (Asow), on the Black 
Sea, B. c. 70, and the great influence which his religious sys- 
tem and conquests exerted among the Northmen. His 
descendants, the SkioJdiinger, in Denmark, and the Ynglin- 
gar, in Sweden, continued to reign for centuries in different 
smaller dynasties, until later in the ninth century a new light 
is thrown on the North on the introduction of Christianity by 
missionaries from France. Three great events however rest on 
a historical basis, the migration of the Langobards from Jut- 
land, that of the Goths from Gothland or northern Sweden, 
a. d. 200, and that of the Jutes, Angles and Saxons, a. d. 



f 



\ 



^* Jute is pronounced T/oot, and it seems, therefore, a kindred word 
with Goth. 



24 



FIRST PERIOD.— THE HUNNISH EMPIRE. 



449, to Britain. Yet if history is silent, the sagas and songs 
in the Icelandic eddas are eloquent testimonials from the 
heroical days of the old Sea-kings and Vi-kings, and the 
gradual progress of civilization is plainly discernible through 
the ages of stone, of bronze and of iron, by the interesting dis- 
coveries made in the sepulchral monuments of these times. 
Another proof of the comparative early cultivation in the hoary 
north are the numerous Runic inscriptions found every where, 
which go back to the third, or even second century of our 
era. 

86. The Finns — Finnaith — were the aboriginal inhabit- 
ants of the north ; these " gentle Finns," the black-haired 
tribe, belonged to the race of the Chudes, occupying in those 
early times the greater part of Scandinavia, Quainland (now 
Lapmark in northeastern Sweden), Jotunheim (now Finnland), 
and BiARMELAND (the whole northern Russia) on the White 
Sea, as far as Mount Oural. These poor Skrit-Finns, clad in 
skins, dwelling in fur tents, tending their reindeer, and chasing 
the wild urus, were subjugated or driven northward by the 
proud tribes of the Goths ; and it is an interesting fact from 
the sagas, that the black-haired race, the Finns, remained " the 
thralls or serfs, tilling the ground of the fair -haired southern 
conquerors long centuries after their first conquest of Scandi- 
navia." 

EMPIRE OF THE HUNS. 

SAEMATIA AND SCYTHIA. 

87. Sarmatia. — The Romans gave the name of Sarmatia 
to all the countries between the Vistula, on the west, and the 
Rha or Volga, on the east. It ran north toward the Oceanus 
Septeyitrionalis, the distance of which was unknown, though we 
have already seen the nations bordering upon the Finnish Gulf 
and the White Sea were not Sarmatians but Chudes ; its limits 
on the south, were the Buxine Pontus and the Caucasian Ridge ; 
it embraced likewise the fertile Chersonesus Taurica (now Cri- 
mea), where the Roman empire still possessed some towns situ- 
ated on the coast. The southeastern part of Sarmatia between 
the Thanais (now Don) and Caucasus, was then called Asiatic 
Sarmatia, and was, before the arrival of the Huns, occupied by 
the Alani, renowned for their excellent cavalry. 

88. ScYTHiA. — Both Greeks and Romans embraced under 
the appellation Scythia all northern Asia, from the Volga to the 
eastern ocean, of which they knew no more than of the frozen 
oceati bordering that continent on the north. On the south it 
reached to the Oxus, and the high range of Imaus (Emodus, 
now Himalaya), from which both the Indus and Ganges take 
their source. Another chain of mountains running north, 
which they likewise called Imaus, the present Mustag, divided, 
according to their imperfect knowledge, all Scythia into two 
parts : Scythia intra Imaum niontem, and Scythia extra 
Imaum (on this side, or on the west, and beyond, or on the east). 
More interesting is the question who the Scythians were, and 
what was the diiferenee between them and the Sarmatians, 
that is, Sauromatians, or lizard (green)-eyed people ? The 
Scythians, no doubt, were the ancient Massagetcs, between the 
Caspian sea and the lake of Aral ; they were then Turcomans 
and Tartars, and so are the modern Cossacks ; while the " green- 
eyed people," the Sauromatce, are the more modern Slavi, Scla- 
vonians, Russians and Poles, nay, a century or two later the 
Byzantine historians knew nothing more about the Sauromattie 
and Sarmatia ; but they are constantly occupied with Slavi, 

\ SlamnijWaA Slavia,^^ yfhich distinctly proves that the old Sar- 

"''' Slava signifies tySo^os, gloriosus, glorious, brave ; slowa, in Sclavo- 
nic, is man. The Sclavonian prisoners during the middle ages brought in 
ase our modera slave, sklav, esclave, sciavo, eslabo. 



matian races then got a more modern name from their own 
language. 

89. Empire of the Huns. — The empire of the Hims, 
— Hunni — had not yet obtained, at the time we here describe, 
the immense extent which it acquired afterwards ; but almost 
immediately on the appearance of the Hunnish monsters on 
the Volga, one nation sank before them after the other ; they 
overran the greater part of Sarmatia and Scythia, and pene- 
trated into the heart of Gaul. Some have held the Huns to 
be the Chinese tribe Hiongnu,^" but this is erroneous. They 
were a mighty nomadic people of Mongol race, quite different 
from the inhabitants of southern Asia (Tartars), and Europe ' 
(Pelasgi). They were Chunni {Ilufini), of Ugrian race, kin 
dred to the Hungarians from Mount Oural. The Ugri are of 
Finnish or Chudish descent, and so are both the Huns and the 
Hungarians, with the difference, however, that the Huns have 
an admixture of the Mongol or Calmuc, while the Magyars 
have more Turkish blood in their veins. The Huns are de- 
scribed as the ugliest race of monsters the world ever saw ; and 
the Goth Jornandes says that their horrible deformity and besti- 
ality gained more battles for them than their arrows. At the 
time of their invasion they were divided into two numerous 
tribes — the White Huns or the Hephthalitcs, on the east of 
the Caspian, hovering on the frontiers of the Persian empire, 
where they made desolating incursions ; and the Black Huns, 
the true Ugrians from Mount Oural. Starting from their 
dreary table-lands (Siberia) in 374, they suddenly appeared 
on the Volga, where they overthrew the Alani, and in a single 
battle on the banks of the Thanais, destroyed the mighty em- 
pire of the Ostrogoths. The Goths are subdued ; the chiefs 
of the proud and princely race of Amali serve the Hunnish 
conqueror ; all the lands east of the Theiss and the Danube 
are devastated. A general panic has taken possession of the 
many Sarmatic, Turkish, Chudish, and Germanic tribes on the 
plains of Sarmatia ; many flee westward to the Rhine. Alani, 
Suevi, Vandals, and Bui'gundians, form their immense camps on 
the upper Danube (81); the terrified Visigoths have already 
crossed that river and inhabit Moesia ; and thus the Huns in 
380 roam victoriously over those immense regions, and live on 
the spoils of the Gepidae, Scyri, Heruli, and other Germanic 
nations who follow their banner.^' The borders of their empire 
under King Balamir seems to have been the river Tibiscus 
(Theiss) on the west ; how far it reached north is not to be de- 
cided. On the south it was bounded by Mount Caucasus, the 
Black Sea, and the Danube ; on the east it stretched away far 
in the interior of Siberia. 

90. Nations who obeyed the Huns.— In our enumeration 
of the nations whom the Huns subjected to the yoke on their 
first invasion, we will follow the order in which their conquests 
took place. The Akatziri, Chazars, Khozars or Guzzari, 
one of the most important Tartaric nations during the middle 
aires, had with other Tartaric and Turcoman tribes theif home- 
stead on the steppes above the river Oxus and laxartes, east 
of the Caspian, and bordered, north and east, on the Ugri 
and Mongols. They then advanced on the Caspian, which 
from them took the name of Khozaric Sea, and they began 
from thence terrible inroads on the Persian empire. They 
were long residing on the northern shores of the Caspian be- 
tween the rivers Yai/c (Oural), and the Rha or Atel (Volga), 
when, at the sudden irruption of the Huns, they were forced 
into submission, and carried along with their conquerors. 

The Alans, Alani, a nation of Germanic origin, though 
mixed with Turkish blood, who with their herds of horses and 

^^ Desguignes, in his Histoire des Huns, and Gibbon, chap. xxvi. 
'''' Compare the small map illustrating the Conquests of the Huns on 
the lower Danube in 380. 



FIRST PERIOD.— GOTHS AND SCLAVONIANS. 



25 



cattle roamed on tlie sandy steppes, which extend north of 
Mount Caucasus. Defeated by the Huns, part of the Alani 
fled southward to the mountains, where their descendants, the 
Ossetes, a warlike Circassian tribe, still occupy the northern 
valleys of Mount Kasbeck and the banks of the Terek. Others 
hurried westward and joined the Vandals and Suevi, while 
the mass of the Alani enlisted among their victors, and moved 
off with them to new settlements. 

The GrOTHS, Gothi. — About this, the most celebrated .of 
the Germanic nations, we have already spoken (85-89). They 
settled in very early times on the shores of the Baltic, where 
we find a Godoland and Godesconzia (Castle of the Goths), 
further, an island of the name of Gothland, and another Goth- 
land in central Sweden, between their brethren the Danes and 
Suethones. But about the year a. d. 200, according to Jornan- 
des, they turned their arms south again, and appear now for 
the first time on the scene of history divided in three great na- 
. tions — the Ostrogoths or Eastern Goths, on the Borys- 
thenes (Dnieper) ; the Visigoths or Western Goths, west- 
ward of that river in Dacia ; and the GEPiDiE or the Loiterers, 
who remained north of the Carpathian range, at the sources of 
the Vistula, where they still continued independent of the Huns 
at the close of the fourth century. The Goths were the most 
; civilized of all the Germanic tribes, and they had adopted 
^\l^ Christianity en masse much earlier than the Greco-Roman in- 
?(^ habitants of the empire. Their bishop, the learned Ulphilas, 
invented their alphabet, and translated the NewTestament (77). 
The family of Amali ruled the Ostrogoths as kings (89) ; the 
Baltes (or the Bold) were the presidents or judges of the Visi- 
goths ; yet it seems that King Hermanric, of the Ostrogoths, 
enjoyed a supremacy over the other tribes. All the Sarmatian 
nations of the eastern plains obeyed the sceptre of the gene- 
. rous Hermanric, who has left a great name in history ; yet the 
L onslaught of the Huns was irresistible — the old king perished 
/ in battle, and his brave people was forced to follow the camp of 
V their monstrous masters. The Visigoths had assembled their 
forces behind the Danastcr (Dniester), but the Huns swam their 
horses through the river to attack the rear of the Goths, who 
suffered a second defeat oh the Hierasus (Pruth). Their 
bravest warriors gathering round their chief judge, Athanaric, 
attempted a stand on the mountains of Caucaland (the Car- 
pathians), but the mass of the nation, stricken with terror, 
hurried to the banks of the Danube, imploring the pity of the 
Emperor Valens, for an asylum in the territory of the 
, Roman empire. They were permitted to cross the river, and 
more than a million of Visigoths were settled in the Aurelian 
Dacia (34), and the two Moesiae (31 and 34), whence they after- 
wards received the name of Morso- Goths. Sword in hand they 
soon penetrated across Mount Hgemus into the heart of Thrace 
(50) ; and after the battle of Adrianople and the death of Va- 
lens, it was only by the greatest exertions of the prudent 
Theodosius that the capital could be saved from those dan- 
gerous guests. 

Among the many nations then inhabiting Sarmatia, who 
passed from the yoke of the Goths, under that of the fierce 
Huns, we mention the following : 

The Roxolans, — Roxolani — (the ancestors of the Rus- 
sians, who inhabited the Palus Moiotis (gulf of Azof), be- 
tween the lower Borysthenes and the Tanais. They became 
later a powerful people, under the sway of Ruric and his Da- 
nish Vikings. 

The Heruli, driven from the banks of the Palus McBotis, 

, by the Huns, retreated thence toward the Danube, where we 

j later find them, on the right bank of that river, between Vi- 

f enna and Buda, forming a powerful kingdom, before their 

march to Italy, in 476. 

The Peucini, Taifali and Scyres — Scyri, were mixed 

4 



tribes of Germanic and Sclavonic descent, in Dacia, and along 
the outskirts of the Carpathian mountains. 

The Vandali Astingi (80) had marched eastward, to- 
ward the Black Sea, but like the Thervi'ingi, another Gothic 
tribe, they soon gave up their plans and retired, fleeing back 
toward the Theiss, to escape the fury of the Huns. 

The Jazyges (33), a brave Sarmatic people, living on 
horseback, occupied still the open, swampy plain of the Ma- 
rosh, with their immense herds of horses and cattle ; they pro- 
vided the markets of the Greek empire, but they too bowed 
to the Huns. 

91. Among the Slavonic nations north of the Carpathians, 
who remained independent during this period, we mention in 
central and northern Sarmatia, 

The Slawini, Anti and Veneti, in the later principality 
of Lithuania. The latter were likewise called Vened.e, or 
ViNiDi, on the coast of the Sinus VeJiedicus (the Baltic), in 
which the Vistula discharges itself After the downfall of the 
Gothic empire, the Veneti became, under the name of Vendi, 
the most powerful and celebrated nation in Sarmatia (Slavia), 
and extended their sway over all the southern coast of the 
Baltic, and into Holstein, where they soon came in hostile 
contact with the Danes. 

The Borussci (Prussians), on the right bank of the Vis- 
tula, appear somewhat later, as one of the most savage and in- 
domitable of the Sclavonian races ; but they have now, after 
long suffering, become Germanized, as the peaceful inhabitants 
of East Prussia. 

The Hestii, or Estyi, on the northeast of the Borussci, 
had quietly inhabited the coasts of their fertile province (now 
the beautiful, highly cultivated Estland, or Estonia), since the 
first century, when Tacitus mentions them as active merchants 
and fishermen, who were occupied in gathering the precious 
yellow amber on their coast, and thus kept up a continual 
traffic with distant Italy. 

92. Gothi Tetraxitjs were a branch of the Gothic stock 
who occupied the southern part of the beautiful peninsula of 
Taurica (Crimea). Only the maritime towns, Dandaca, 
and Chersonesos on the east, and Theodosia (Caffa) on the 
Taurian Bosphorus, inhabited by Greeks, remained in connec- 
tion with the empire. 

The Zicks, Zickhi, a Caucasian, people on the Hypanis 
(Kuban), in the present Abashia, on the coast of the Black 
Sea ; the Lazi, in the ancient Colchis, on the south of the 
range ; the Iberi, in the present Grusia, on the river Cyrus 
(Kura), and other nations on Mount Caucasus, all warlike, 
like their modern descendants, preserved their liberty. 

93. Farther northeast, along the ridge of Mount Oural, ap- 
pear already the vanguard of the Slavo-Turkish, and Turco- 
Tartaric Tribes in their advance upon the Black Sea and 
the Danube. These wild and barbarous nations, the Bulga- 
rians, the Avars, the horrible Petchenegi and Cumani, are 
in a subsequent period to perform an important part in the 
history of the Middle Ages. The Magyars, the Ugri and 
Hungari or Hungarians, all Finno-Turkish Tribes, on the 
northwestern slope of Mount Oural, are still residing in their 
old home, Ugria, and there we shall leave them for the present. 

II. Cg-untries in Asia. 

94. Their Names. — Among the regions of Asia which were 
known to the Romans, and by them accounted in the world of 
the Barbarians, we need hardly count the wild, roving tribes 
of the Sarrazeni, or Saracens; Saraceni, the Bedouins of 
the Arabian desert, who already began to appear on the out- 
skirts of the great Syrian desert, where they lay in wait for 
the caravans from Damascus crossing by Palmyra, through 



26 



FIRST PERIOD— PERSIA. SECOND PERIOD— DIVISION. 



the desert, to Babylon on the Euphrates. But we must say 
a word about Armenia, on the northeast of the Roman fron- 
tiers, and of the Persian Empire on the southeast. 

95. Armenia or Great Armenia, Armenia Major, by 
this name distinguished from Armenia Minor, which belonged 
to the Roman empire, formed south of Mount Caucasus an 
independent state, or rather a confederacy of states, suffi- 
ciently powerful, which the Romans themselves had assisted in 
throwing off the Persian yoke. 

Artaxata (now Ardek) on the Araxes,*was at that time 
the most important city. 

96. The Empire of the Persians was re-established in 
A. T). 226, on the ruins of the Parthian power. The last Arsa- 
cide was dethroned and killed by Artaxerxes Babegan, with 
whom began the dynasty of the Sassanides. The new Persian 
Empire comprehended all the countries extending from the 
Indian Ocean, Erythreion Mare, in the south, to the river 
Jaxartes in the north, and from the Indus in the east to the 
Tigris and the Euphrates in the west. The Persian monarchs, 
ambitious and warlike, laid claims to the eastern Roman em- 
pire as part of ancient Persia, and thus the wars on the fron- 
tiers were almost continual. The empire was divided into 
four Satrapies. The capital was the city of Seleucia, 
west of the Tigris, and Ctesiphon, on the opposite bank, 
the residence of the Parthian Kings during their dominion in 
those regions. Al-Madain, or the Two Cities, was the name 
given to their ruins, with the materials of which the Arabs after- 
wards built the city of Bagdad. The New Persians, like the 
Parthians, were originally a brave, warlike people ; laborious, 
faithful, devoted to their country, but servile and reserved. 
The kings were despots, vain of their proud oriental titles ; 
their will or whim was the only law ; Cosroes I. permitted, 
singularly enough, a national assembly to sanction his laws, 
but every remonstrance was punished with death. One re- 
volution, fomented in the seraglio, followed another ; unheard 
cruelties were committed, and even women succeeded to 
the throne. The fire-worship of Zoroaster had been re- 
stored, and the Magi (Mobeds) had a preponderating influ- 
ence. A splendid cavalry was the strength of the Persian 
armies, and the steed continued still the favorite animal of the 
Persian. Against the Chazars on the Caspian, the Persians 
defended their frontiers by the celebrated walls, forty para 
sangs (150 miles) in length, the Bab-al-Abuab at Dervend, on 
the Caspian. The Nestorians found a hospitable reception in 
Persia, and they alone were tolerated among the Christian 
sects. The luxury among the great was promoted by early 
commerce with India. The city of Ormus at the entrance of 
the Persian gulf, became one of the most important emporiums 
of the Bast. Learning flourished at court ; Greek philosophers 
were well received, but the people were kept in ignorance ; 
the manners were savage, and women held in servitude and 
contempt. Agriculture was protected by the Persian kings as 
worthy servants of Ormuz, and Persia flourished by her manu- 
factures of perfumes, splendid clothing and arms. Such was 
the state of that mighty Persian monarchy which was soon des- 
tined to threaten Constantinople and the Eastern Empire with 
destruction, but sank herself before the all-conquering fanaticism 
of the followers of Mohammed. 

ITI, BARBARIAN COUNTRIES IN AFRICA. 

97. Different Nations, — The African nations who had 
escaped the dominion of the Romans, lived on the outskirts of 
the Great Libyan desert, without any influence on the political 
movements of the world. Nor are we acquainted with their 
situation and condition at this period. The Moorish tribes, 
Berberi, KAnvi.Es and Maiikusians had been driven intq 



the recesses of Mount Atlas, whence they later re-appear as the 
allies of the Vandals in their war against the Romans. 

Thus we have finished our picture of the political, geo- 
graphical, and ethnographical condition of the ancient world 
at the close of the fourth century. A glance at the second 
map from the beginning of the sixth will at once show the 
great events which have taken place since the fall of the West- 
ern Roman Empire, and the settlement of the Germanic na- 
tions in its devastated provinces. ^^ 



CHAPTER III. 

EUROPE AND THE ADJACENT PARTS OF ASIA 
AND AFRICA. 

THEIR POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY AT THE ACCESSION OF 
.JUSTINIAN I. A. D. 527. 

98. General Division. — AVe have given a detailed descrip- 
tion of the ancient world before the invasion of the Barba- 
rians. To delineate the movement itself on the map, in such 
a manner as to combine clearness with accuracy, — to exhibit the 
march of so many nations crossing and recrossing one another in 
all directions, and almost at the same time, would be impossible. 
The earlier attempts of Kruse, Ansart, and others to indicate 
the wanderings of the migrating tribes by colored lines, have 
therefore been failures, because they only augmented the con- 
fusion instead of clearing it up. We have in consequence pre- 
ferred to take our stand in the second map at a time when 
the migrations of the northern Germanic nations were at an 
end, with the only exception of that of the Lombards, who, at 
a subsequent period, some forty years later, entered Italy. 
With regard to the eastern Sclavouian and Turkish races, no 
certain period could be fixed, because their invasions from the 
Caspian continued throughout the course of the middle ages. 
By thus comparing the two first maps, the historical student 
will discover, 1st, that the dominion of the Germanic nations 
extends already from the northern tropics to the deserts of 
Africa, and from the shores of the Atlantic Ocean eastward, 
to the frontiers of the Byzantine Empire in Illyricum ; 2d, 
that the numerous Sclavouian nations, in their progress west- 
ward, have occupied the lands abandoned by the Germans, 
from the Elbe and the Baltic, to the Danube and the Adriatic ; 
3d, that the western Roman Empire has perished in the deluge 
of nations, and that eastern Rome or the Greek (Byzantine) 
Empire, though still surviving, is sorely pressed by the advancing 
Avars, Bulgarians, and the millions of Turco-Tartars already 
descending from Mount Oural. We find, therefore, at the 
time of the accession of Justinian I., fifteen more or less 
important states, founded and organized by the Barbarians 
who had taken part in the migration. The larger portion of 
these nations had already been converted to Christianity, and 
they deserve our particular attention, while we may pass more 
rapidly over other regions still, at that time, occupied by 
Barbarians, who were either subdued by the arms of Byzan- 
tium, or were suffered to enjoy their wild independence 
unmolested. Those fifteen states were distributed through- 
out Europe in the following manner : Six in northern Eu- 

'^ Piu-ticular attention has been paid in this introductory map to 
fix the places which liave beconae important, in the wars of .the last Em- 
perors against the Barbarians, and as far as the space of the map has 
permitted we have with accuracy designated every historical site men- 
tioned by Ammianus Marcellinus, Zosimus, the six minor historians, the 
panegyrists, Jornandes, Paul Warnefried, and other northern chroni- 
clers whose relations go back to those early times. 



SECOND PERIOD.— IRELAND— SCOTLAND. 



27 



rope and western Asia : 1 st, the British Islands, where we 
find four Saxon kingdoms and several independent re- 
gions : II. Independent Germany ; III. Slavia ; IV. the 
States of Scandinavia ; and in the northeast V. the kingdom 
of the Bulgarians or Wolochs, which extended across Mount 
Oural beyond the frontiers of Europe ; VI. the kingdom 
of the Uturgurian Huns on the Caspian. Five in central 
Europe : VII. the kingdoms of the Franks ; VIII. that of 
the Burgundians ; IX. that of the Thuringians ; X. that 
of the Lombards ; and XI. that of the Gepidce. Four in 
southern Europe and northern Africa : XII. the kingdom 
of the Visigoths ; and XIII. that of the Suevians, both in 
Spain ; XIV. that of the Ostrogoths in Italy ; XV. that of 
the Vandals, on some of the islands of the Mediterranean and 
the northern coast of Africa ; and last of all, as the XVIth, 
the eastern Roman empire, to which during the reign of Jus- 
tinian, the two preceding, those of the Ostrogoths and Vandals, 
were reunited by the victorious sword of Belisarius and Nar- 
ses. These important conquests produced a signal modifica- 
tion in the political geography of Europe toward the middle 
of the sixth century. Before we consider their main results, 
we shall describe these fifteen Barbarian states as they exist- 
ed on the accession of Justinian. 



§ L NORTHERN EUROPE. 

I. BRITISH ISLANDS. 

99. Division. — The British Islands, with which we begin 
our description of northern Europe, exhibit at the beginning 
of the sixth century, four countries which still remained inde- 
pendent, four Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, and some other terri- 
tories occupied by Saxon or Scandinavian pirates. 

100. I. HiBERNiA — Ir aland, Erin — Ireland, the most 
western of the two large British islands, was divided into seve- 
ral populous kingdoms. Christianity made a rapid progress. 
After the first doubtful attempts of Palladius, the disciple of 
that devoted missionary, the great Saint Patrick, a native of Scot- 
land, arrived among the Irish in 432, and began the arduous 
missionary work with such wonderful success, that he was en- 
abled in 472 to found the archbishopric of Ardmacha (Ar- 
magh), which has ever since remained the metropolitan see of 
the Irish nation. Hence it is that this enlightened and perse- 
vering missionary, though not the first who brought the light 
of the Gospel among that savage people, has yet been justly en- 
titled the Apostle of the Irish, and the Father of the Hibernian 
Church, and is still generally acknowledged and revered in 
that honorable character. With Christianity, civilization be- 
gan to dawn on those remote regions ; churches and schools 
were built, and the religious order of the Culdees, instituted in 
the sixth century by Saint Columba, distinguished itself by its 
pure and apostolic principles ; while many other monasteries 
arose in which the sciences were studied with enthusiasm and 
success. The art of writing was introduced, and the monks them- 
selves invented new alphabets. The old Irish laws (Brehon 
laws) seem to have been written in a secret language, in order 
to remain intelligible only to the Brehons (the judges and 
lawyers). Ireland was badly cultivated; the chase, cattle- 
breeding, and fishing, were the principal resources of the poor 
and barbarous Erins ; they fought with stones, spears, and 
ponderous battle-axes. They had two arts: music and po- 
etry ; for their bards sang to the harp the deeds of the heroes 
among the different tribes, who were continually fighting with 
one another. Among the larger states we find Connacia 
( Conaght, Connaught), in the northwest ;— Ultonia (Ulster), 
north, with the ancient city of Ardmacha (Armagh), south of 



Loclt Etach (Lake Neath), the great centre for the Irish mis- 
sions ; — Media (Meath), east, with the capital Tamora, Teamor 
(now Trim), on the I'iver Boandus (Boyne), whose chief — Ar- 
driagh — or king enjoyed a supremacy over the chiefs — -canfin- 
nies — of the other tribes, and often called them together in pub- 
lic assembly. JjAGENiA{Lechlinia, Leinster), southeast, with the 
town Eblana, Dyflin (or Dublin) ; and Momonia (Munster), on 
the southwest. Shortly after this period, in the seventh century, 
began the piratical incursions of the Ostniannas — the Eastmen 
or Danes, and their permanent settlement on the east coast of 
Erin, where they, in the ninth century, founded flourishing 
kingdoms. 

101. II. The Kingdom of the Scots, in the northwestern 
extremity of the island of Britain, and the smaller adjacent 
isles. The Scots — Scoti — were the ancient Caledonians, who 
descending from their dreary mountains (the Highlands), had 
given the Romans so much trouble behind their fortified lines 
on the Forth. They were of Celtic origin, and called them- 
selves Gaelic, and their mountain-home Gaeldoch. The Scots, 
like their kinsmen the Erins, were poor and savage ; they had 
all the features of the Celtic race ; their government was feudal, 
the people were divided into Clans, whose chiefs possessed the 
control of life and death over their liegemen (Sgollags). Their 
weapons were the heavy battle-axe (lochaber axe), the broad 
claymore, the dirk, and the bow ; the chase and fishery formed 
their occupation. Christianity took early root in the Highlands. 
Saint Palladius had already, since the year 430, spread suc- 
cessfully the faith of Christ among the Scots, as Saint Patrick 
did among the Erins in Ireland, during the time when the An- 
glo-Saxons were establishing themselves in Britain. Among 
the southern Picts, Christianity is said to have maintained it- 
self fr6m the period of their early conversion by the Briton 
Nynias in 394. In the year 563, Saint Columba passed over 
from Ireland to the northern Picts and formed excellent disci- 
ples, through whom a pleasing image of pious zeal, deep learn- 
ing, and varied acquirements attaches itself to the memory of 
the Scottish monks. Saint Columba received from the Pictish 
prince the island of My, now lona or I-Colm-Kill (the Isle of 
the Church, or Cell of Columba), which his name has conse- 
crated, and which in honor of him continued for ages to be 
the burial place of many northern heroes of Scotland, Ireland, 
Norway, and Northumbria. 

The traditional king Fergus, from Ulster, is said to have 
united the Highland Clans about a. d. 500, and to have resided 
among the lakes of Argathelia (Argyle). 

102. III. The Kingdom of the Picts, on the southeast 
of the former. ^° They dwelt on both sides of the Grampian 
Hills, from Inverness and Elgin to Dunbarton, or from the 
Frith of Murray to those of Forth and Clyde, and south toward 
the border of England. The Picts (the present Lowlanders) 
were a difl'erent race from the Scots or Gaelic ; they were no 
doubt of Scandinavian origin. The connection of Scandinavia 
with Caledonia, was of a much older date than the conquest 
of England by the Anglo-Saxons. The Orkney Islands were, 
from time immemorial, occupied by the Northmen, whence they 
early obtained a firm footing on the coast of Caledonia. Beda the 
Venerable (a. d. 672-735) says, " that when the Britons, begin- 
ning at the south, made themselves masters of the greatest 
part of the island, it happened that the nation of the Picts, 
coming over the ocean from Scythia,'" in long-ships, began to 
inhabit the northern part of that island, the south of which 

''' The name of Picts seems to have been given them by the Eomans, 
from their habit of staining their bodies with colors when going to bat- 
tle ; they were therefore picti, painted. 

'" That is, Scandinavia. Jornandes, the Gothic historian, likewise 
calls Scandinavia, the homestead of his Goths, Scythia, and so do other 
writers in those early times. 



J 



^ 



y 



28 



SECOND PERIOD.— WALES— ENGLAND— GERMANY. 



was already possessed by tlie Britons (Celts)." Nennius (a. d. 
688) likewise says, " that the Plots occupied the Orkney 
Islands, and took possession of the left or northern coast of 
Britain, where they remained." This interesting fact is proved 
by the heroical poems of the Scottish Highlanders, and by all 
the philological investigations of modern times. The most re- 
markable affinity, both of language, poetry, names, and tradi- 
tions, prevails between the Danish and Scottish ballads, and 
every Danish youth reading the Lowland Scotch dialect in 
Walter Scott's masterly tales, will drop a tear, and hail the 
familiar tones as an " auld lang syne " of his own. In the 
south of Scotland, the rustic still points to many a memorial 
of the Picts, consisting of old walls, and fortifications which have 
a great resemblance to those in the Scandinavian north. ^' The 
residence of the king of the Picts, was situated at the mouth 
of the river Tay. 

103. IV. The Kingdom of Cambria or Kymeu, along 
the western coast of Britain, embracing Cambria or North- 
Wcalas (the present Wales), and Damnonia or West- Wcalas 
(now Cornwall), the kingdom of Arthur, the Celtic hero. The 
inhabitants were those brave Cyinri (Cimbri), who accom- 
panied the Celts on their early migration from the East (77). 
They received in their mountains the Britons fleeing before 
the victorious Anglo-Saxons, and thus the Welsh, headed 
by the celebrated King Arthur, of Damnonia, became the 
last bulwark of the Celtic race in Britain. The heroical deeds 
of King Arthur fall, most probably, about a. d. 520, when he 
perished in battle in Cornwall. Skeptical historians among 
the moderns have doubted the existence of the Celtic hero, 
but his ashes and tombstone were discovered at Glastonbury 
Abbey so early as 1189, and poems and traditions have car- 
ried his glorious name from the mountains of Wales»to the 
distant Mediterranean ; and from the Middle Ages, the tales 
of King Arthur, and his Knights of the Round Table, have 
been the delight of the fair at the fireside, and the emulation 
of the brave on the battle-field. 

Cambria was then divided into several states : 1 , Venedo- 
ciA or Givynedh, in the north, whose king was supreme over 
the other states ; his residence was at Aberfraiv, on the island 
of Anglesey ; 2, Dimetica (Dyved), or West Wales, on the 
south ; 3, Deheubarth or South Wales, the country of the 
warlike Sihires, with the royal seat at Caerleon upon Usk ; 
and, 4, Morganwg (Glamorganshire), on the northern bank 
of the Severn. Caermardhyn (Caermarthen), southwest, was 
one of the principal towns of the island. Baclon-hill, near 
Bath, where King Arthur in battle defeated the Saxon in- 
vaders in A. D. 516. Bangor or Banchor, the celebrated 
monastery in the north of Wales, opposite to Anglesey, was 
already established in this early period. Saint Gildas, the 
oldest British historian (a. d. 516-570), lived here as a 
monk, and Nennius, who continued his Eulogmm Bri- 
tannice, was bishop of the monastery in a. d. 688. The chief 
tribes of the Britons (Cymry), were distinguished by various 
dialects ef their common mother-tongue ; it was polished by 
illustrious poets, whose works have been preserved to the 
present time. The Cymry extended their sway northward 
to the mouth of the Clyde, through the present lake dis- 
trict of Cumberland — the kingdom of Cumbria — as far as 
Dumfries, Annandale and Galloway — the kingdom of Strath- 
clyde — where they continued their warfare with the Picts 
and Scots, as well as with the Anglo-Saxons, until they 
were expelled in the early part of the tenth century, when 
Cumberland became a Scottish principality imder Anglo- 
Saxon sovereignty. 

=' Compare the interesting dissertation on the origin of the Scottish 
language in Dr. Jamieson'a Scottish Dictionary, Edinburgh, 1851. 



104. Kingdoms of the Saxons. — The conquest of Britain 
by the Angles-Saxons and Jutes (84), under their chiefs, 
Hengist and Horsa, a. d. 449-489, and the later expeditions 
of Cerdic and Kenric, are too well known to require mention 
here. We find, in the beginning of the sixth century, four 
Saxon kingdoms established in the most fertile parts of the 
island ; they are the following : 

I. The kingdom of Cantware, Cantia (now Kent), found- 
ed in 451, on the southeastern coast of the island, by Hengist 
after the great battle at Crawford, in which the Britons were 
routed and forced to abandon the country south of the Thames. 
Cantwaraburh (Canterbury) was the capital. Eagles-ford 
(Aylesford), west of the former, was the place where Hengist 
and his Jutes gave the first battle to the Britons. At Stonar, 
on the seashore, opposite France, they defeated them again. 
Tlianet (Ruithina), the small isle on the eastern coast, at 
the mouth of the Stura, near Richborough, where the British 
chiefs solicited the assistance of the Jutish and Saxon rovers, 
and where Hengist fortified his naval station for the subse- 
quent invasion of the island. 

II. The kingdom of Suth-Seaxas or Suthsaxonia (Sus- 
sex), founded by Ella in 477-490, who, after many victories over 
the unskilful Britons, at last established his seat in Cissan- 
CE aster (Chichester), and secured his conquest by continual 
succors from new Saxon bands. The island of Wiht, Vectis 
(now Wight), remained, like Kent, a Jutish colony. 

III. The kingdom of West-Seaxas or Westsaxonia 
(Wessex), was established in 516-19, by the proud Cerdic, 
the descendant of Odin, who extended his conquests westward 
to Damnonia, and north to the Severn. Wintanceaster (Win- 
chester), was the capital. Cerdicsforda, on the Afene, where 
Cerdic, and his son Kenric, totally defeated the Britons, and 
secured the possession of their new empire. 

IV. The kingdom of East-Seaxas, Estsaxovia (Essex), 
north of the Thames, founded in 526-27 by ^scewine, the son 
of Offa ; while other bands of Angles from Schleswig, under 
king Ida, landed north, and laid the foundation of the states 
of East-Anglia and Northanhumbria (Northumberland). 
The petty kings of Essex resided in Lundenwyc (London). 
Thus the eastern and southern coasts of Britain were perma- 
nently occupied by the Anglo-Saxons (449-530), and thirty 
years later (560), we find one Jutish, three Saxon, and 
three Angle kingdoms established in Britain ; Kent, Sussex, 
Wessex, Essex, East-Anglia, Bernicia, and Deira. The poor 
Britons, driven westward into the mountain fastnesses of 
Wales, had already long become Christians, while their sav- 
age conquerors still worshipped Odin, Thor and Freia. It 
was not until 596, that Saint Austin appeared with his Roman 
monks, and his assistant Mellitus built Saint Paul's Church 
in London in a. d. 604. 

II. Independent Germany. 

105. Principal Nations. — The whole northern portion of 
Germany was, in the beginning of the 6th century, occupied 
with nations who had not yet formed themselves into mon- 
archies. 

The Prisons (76), from the mouth of the Rhine along the 
coast, to the Elbe. 

The Saxons (78), who, though so many bands had crossed 
over to Britain, had continued to extend themselves between 
the Weser, the Elbe, and the Rhine. 

The Angles (78), on the north of the Saxons, had mostly 
departed beyond the sea, and their name was only preserved in 
the small district of Angeln, north of Schleswig. 

The Warni (80) had crossed the Elbe, and settled on the 
lower Rhine. Their king, Radiger, had engaged an Anglo- 
Saxon princess, but married a sister of the Prankish king. 



SECOND PERIOD.— SCANDINAVIA— SLAVIA—BULGARS— HUNS. 



29 



A 



Theodebert, The Anglo-Saxons landed, to take reveiige for 
this slight, defeated the Warni, captured their prince, and 
obliged him to fulfil his prior matrimonial engagement with the 
Anglo-Saxon lady, which is an interesting event, told us by the 
Greek historian, Procopius, then residing in Constantinople. 

III. Scandinavia. 

106. Denmark and Sweden. — The Jutes of the peninsuLa, 
andtheDanes^^ of the islands, andof Skaane, Scandia (in South- 
ern Sweden), lived still under a great number of petty kings, 
but they acknowledged the supremacy of the Skiolclunger (the 
descendants of Odin), the kings of Sealand. Hledru, or 
iezVe, was the ancient capital during this obscure period. The 
town lay on the Issefiord, near the present castle oi LcUiraborg. 
The valley of Hertha, in the neighborhood, where in the 
dismal and sombre forest, or sacred grove, stood the stone al- 
tars, on which the Danes every nine years celebrated their 
horrible sacrifices. During the month of January, they flocked 
together in crowds from the mainland and isles, and with 
many ceremonies ofl"ered up to their gods ninety-nine men, and 
as many horses and cocks, under the certain hope of appeas- 
ing them by their victims, and conciliating their favor for 
their maritime expeditions in the ensuing spring. 

Sweden was yet a small country, extending north to the 
Dal-elv, and south to Skaane. It was divided according to 
the tribes in Suithoid, Svealaiid, and Gauthiod, Gotaland. 
The dynasty of the Ynglingar, the descendants of Odin, re- 
sided in Upsala (Old-Upsal), north of the modern city, where 
still is seen the celebrated Mora-stone, on which the ancient 
heathen kings were crowned, and received the homage of their 
Suethan and Gothic subjects. At Sigtufia, on the frith of 
Malarn, stood the large wooden temple, built by Odin and 
the Asars, called Odens-sala, the revered sanctuary of all the 
heathen Northmen, down to the ninth century. The temple 
possessed immense wealth in silver and gold ornaments, as the 
sea-kings always consecrated , to Odin and Thor part of the 
spoils from their piracies. The statue of Odin represented 
him standing with a drawn sword in his hand ; Thor, with 
his hammer, stood next, and the fair image of Prigga ex- 
pressed her mild empire, as the benign goddess of love and 
marriage. Thor was the favorite god of the Norse, while 
Odin, Frigga, and the benevolent Balder, were the peculiar 
deities of the Gothic Danes and Svears at Leire and Upsala. 

Civil wars among the petty princes, still occupied the 
Danes and Swedes at home, while the Norwegians had already 
formed settlements on the Orkney islands. 

IV. Slavia. 

/ 107. Principal Nations. — With the year 471, the name 
.Sarmatia disappears entirely, and it is replaced in the Byzan- 
tine historians with that of Slavia — Sclavonia. The Slavi 
or Sloveni, have advanced westward, in the rear of the Ger- 
mans. They extend already over the immense plains of mo- 
dern Prussia, Poland, and Russia. They drive the last Ger- 
man tribes across the Elbe. They occupy the fertile valley of 
Bojenheim (Bohemia), and the Carpathian ridge separates 
them from the Longobards and Gepidse on the Danube. They 
are divided into many kindred nationalities. 

"^ The name Lanus, Dane, appears for the first time in a. d. 580, 
Iq the Latin eulogy of the poet Venantius on the Prankish King Chil- 
peric I., " Quern. Geta, Vasco, tremunt, Danus, Suitho, Saxo, Britan- 
nus." Eginhardt in liis Life of Charlemagne says : " Dani, Sueco?ies 
quos Normannos vocamus." This was later corrupted into Daci, and 
in the Chronicles of the Crusades, we find always Bad, for Danes, and 
Datia, Dacia, for Denmark. 



I. The Sorabian-Vendes have their seats on the shores of 
the Baltic, and extend along the Elbe to the Ertz-Gebirge, on 
the frontiers of Bohemia. The western Slavi, Sorabi, and 
Vendes were governed by kings — kraks — who formed their 
council of the nobles — knases — and their territory was divided 
into regions or zvpania; they loved liberty with the highest en- 
thusiasm, and could never be brought to permanent subjection. 
Their character was mild ; their women modest ; and they - 
treated their prisoners of war with humanity. The religion '' 
of the Vendes consisted in numerous ceremonies. Their 
priesthood exercised a powerful influence ; and the great 
temple of Swantewit, on the promontory of Arcona, in the 
island of Ri'igen, with its idols and wealth, was the great 
national sanctuary of all the western tribes. The Vendes were 
hunters, agriculturists, and pirates. Vineta (WoUin), on the 
Baltic, was their capital. 

II. The Li^cHS or PoZani (Poles or Polaks),'^ the second 
branch of westei-n Slavi, occupied the banks of the Vistula 
and the Oder, and touched on the south the Chrowats (Croats). 

III. The Czekho-Slovaks in Bohemia and Moravia, 
were a powerful people under the mythical queen, the fair 
Libussa ; they attained early a certain cultivation. Agricul- 
ture, cattle-breeding, and forays on their neighbors, were their 
occupations ; they brought their horses, prisoners, and wax 
across the mountains to the Germans on the Elbe, where 
commerce was flourishing, until in the subsequent period 
the German Dukes began the military missionary work among 
them. 

IV. Slavini or Slovini — Sdavini — on the east, in central^ 
Russia, and the Antes on the lower Dniester, where they 
bordered on the advancing Bulgarians. Large cities in the. 
interior were already in the possession of an active commerce. 
KiEW on the Dnieper, is said to have been btiilt as early as 450, 
durinff the dominion of the Huns. Smolensk farther north. 
NovoGOROD on the Lake of Ilmen, became, by the activity of its 
inhabitants and its wealth, a mighty republic, and the emporium 
of Indian commerce during the Middle Ages. 

V. The Lithauanians, a Slavo-Mnnic race, on the west 
of the Sloveni, touched the boundaries of the numerous Chudish 
or Finnic nations on the Baltic, extending through Finnland 
northward to the Icy Ocean. 

V. Kingdom of the Bulgarians. 

108. Position and Extent. — The Bulgarians appear for 
the first time in the second half of the fifth century on 
the west of Mount Oural. They were then divided into 
two hordes, the black Bulgars and the Wolochs or white Bul- 
gars, both of Tartar origin ; but later much mingled with 
Sclavonians, whose language they adopted. From the eastern 
frontiers of Europe, the black Bulgarians followed in the trace 
of the Huns, on their march toward the Danube. In the be- 
ginning of the sixth century they cross the Bulga (Volga), from 
which some historians suppose them to have taken their name, 
and they advance upon the Danube, whence they carry devas- 
tation and misery into the Justinian Empire. 

VI. The Kingdom of the Huns opv. Uturguri. 

109." The Uturgurian Huns. — The downfall of the 
empire of the Huns had been even more sudden than its rise. 
The death of Attila on the Danube in 453, was the signal 
for all the enslaved nations to break their chains. The most 
frightful disorder spread through the camp at Buda, where 
the savage sons of so many various mothers, sword in hand, 

"^ The termination ok is a diminutive ; thus, Slave, Slavak ; Serbe, 
Serbak ; Morlan, Morlak ; Russ, Russak. 



30 



SECOND PERIOD.— HUNS— FRANKS. 



disputed with one another the inheritance of the world's spoils; 
the Ostrogoths, Lombards, Gepida), and Herules united in alli- 
ance against the common oppressor. The tremendous battle be- 
\. tween all these fierce barbarian nations took place on the river 
\Netad (Neutra), in Paunonia. Ellac, the eldest son of At- 

/ tila fell, after wonders of bravery, and with him 30,000 Huns. 

~r His brother, Deugish, gathered the relics of the still formidable 
nation and maintained himself until 470 on the banks of the 
lower Danube ; but the splendid camp of Attila at Buda, with 
the whole of Dacia and Pannonia, from the Cai'pathian hills to 
the Euxine, became divided among the victors — the Gepidae, 
the Ostrogoths, and the Lombards. Surrounded and oppressed 
by his father's slaves, the kingdom of Dengish was at last con- 
fined to the circle of his wagons. He perished on the Danube, 
and Iruac, the youngest son of Attila, retired with the hordes to 
the Volga, where we find them in 526 encamped on the plain 
of the Kuban river, between the Euxine and the Caspian seas, 
divided into the two kingdoms of the Kuturgour and Uturgour 
Huns. From thence they conquered the whole Tauric 
Chersonese, with the exception of the important cities of 
Cherson and Theodosia, which were bravely defended by their 
Roman garrisons. But the other towns, Repoi and Phanagoris, 
situated near the Cimmerian Bosporus, were taken by the Bar- 
barians, who, uniting with the Bulgarians, recrossed the Danube 
and appeared under Zaber-Chan, in 558, before trembling Con- 
stantinople herself. They passed the long wall of Anastasius 
without opposition ; but were routed and discomfited by the 
well-known exploit of old Belisarius. On the return of Zaber- 
Chan beyond the Danube, the Avars fell upon the Huns, 
subdued them, or mixed up with them in such a manner 
that, from the year 572, no mention is ever made in history of 
the Huns as a separate nation, though it is both interesting 
and important to know that the Avars are called indifferently 
Huns, or Avars, by all the western chroniclers in the time 
of Charlemagne, which distinctly proves the union or amalga- 
mation of those fierce Asiatic nations. 



^ IL CENTRAL EUROPE. 

VII. KINGDOMS OF THE FRANKS. 

109.'' Extent of the Monarchy at the Death of Clovis. 
— Extraordinary changes have taken place in Gaul since our 
last visit in the year 395, at the death of Theodosius the 
Great. The invasion of the Vandals, Suevi, Alani, and Bur- 
gundians in 406-410, had been followed by the devastating 
campaign of Attila in 451, and after his defeat at Chaions-sur- 
Marne, the Franks under Clovis had crossed the Somme, and 
during the lethargic inactivity of the last emperors and the intes- 
tine troubles of the western empire, occupied in 486 the whole of 
northern Gaul as far as the Loire. The ambitious and treach- 
erous Clovis then vanquished the Ripuarian Frankish chiefs 
on the Rhine with the dagger and the axe, and the powerful 
nations of the Burgundians, the Alemanni, and the Visigoths, 
with the edge of the sword. He extended the dominion of his 
/ warlike and perfidious people over the greater part of modern 
^\ France and Germany, and left this immense inheritance to his 
) sons, at his death in the year 511.^* At that period the Frankish 
kingdom reached from the mouth of the Rhine, on the north, 
to the base of the Pyrenees on the south, and from the At- 
lantic Ocean west across the Rhine, to the Wirraha (Wer- 
rah) and Almona (Altmtihl) on the east.^' This mighty em- 

'^ Gens Francoruni inclyta, fortis in armis, perfida, audax, velox, 
ferox et aspera ! 

'^ Henry Luden, in his excellent history of the German nation, saj^s 
that Clovis did not pursue the Alemanni across the Rhine.— (Vol. 3, 



pire embraced all modern France, with the exception of the> 
ancient province of Narbonensis on the shores of the Medi- -"yZ 
terranean, which earlier had been occupied by Theodoric,/ 
king of the Ostrogotlis. The country between the upper I „ 
Loire, the Rhone and the Alps, belonged to the Bui'gun- ^ 
dians, who, though vanquished, still remained nominally inde- " 
pendent of the Frankish despot. But Clovis had subdued i, 
the southwestern provinces of Germany, inhabited by the i" 
Alemanni, who after their defeat near Tolbiac in 496, had be- [ 
come subjects, or at least tributary allies of the Franks. We ' 
will now review the component parts of this first modern em- 
pire, in the order in which the different provinces were joined 
to the crown of Clovis. 



Conquests of Clovis, a. d. 486-511. 

110. Provinces and Principal Cities. — The continual in- 
cursions of the Franks had already long ago depopulated the 
formerly so flourishing Belgian and Germanic provinces of the 
exjjiring Roman empire. Most of the cities lay in ruins; the 
villages were burnt, and the fields neglected, nor could the indo- 
lent Franks even by means of their Roman prisoners, now serfs 
and subjects, remove the evil they had brought over the country. 
CoLONiA (Cologne, Koln), on the Rhine, was the capital of 
the Ripuai'ian Franks. Tolbiac (Ziilpich), a few miles off, 
was the battle-field on which Clovis prostrated the Alemannic 
confederacy at a single blow, in 496. Suessiones (Soissons), 
the last city possessed by the Romans. The Roman Prjefect, 
Syagrius, was here routed by Clovis, and his fleeing legions 
gave Clovis an easy victory, by seeking refuge behind the 
Loire. Remi (Rheims), the archiepiscopal see of Bishop Re- 
migerus, beheld the ceremony of the conversion of Clovis and 
his Franks ; it was there at the baptism of the Barbarian in 
the river, that the prelate pronounced the well-known words 
which have rung through centuries : " MUis depone coUum, Si- 
camber, adora quod incendisti — incende quod adorasti.'''' 
" Bow down thy head, oh Sicambrian ! with humility — adore 
what thou hast burnt, burn what thou hast adored." Parish 
(Paris) became soon the capital of the Franks; Clovis re- 
sided there, and the ancient church of Saint Sulpice, where 
he was buried, is still standing. 

111. Gallia Armorica recognized the supremacy of the 
Franks after the victory of Tolbiac. That province had then 
a wider extent than the ancient Roman Armorica i^ropria. The 
latter consisted only of the Brittanic peninsula, while the Ar- 
morican confederacy for mutual defence, had been formed by 
all the Gallic cities and states between the Seine and the 
Loire, who, having found themselves without protection by the 
Romans, had armed and united for the salvation of all. These 
gallant people had beaten back the Vandals and Suevi, in 406, 
and having been reinforced by fleeing Britons from the Island, 
who sought refuge against the Anglo-Saxons, the Peninsula 
was called Britannia Minor, to distinguish it from the invaded 
Britannia Major, Great Britain. We cannot, with certainty, 
determine the extent of this confederacy, but it seems to have 
embraced all the towns between the Loire and the Seine ; the 
following cities belonged to it : Rotdmagus (Rouen), on the 
Seine ; Bajoca (Bayeux) ; Abrinca (Avranches) ; Carnotis 
(Chartres); Redones (Rennes) ; and Andegavi (Anger) — 
all between and' westward of those rivers. Aurelianum 
(Orleans), a populous and strongly fortified city on the 
Loire, had been most heroically defended against Attila by 
its bishop, Saint Aignan, who commanded the citizens on the 



page "70.) Prof. Heni-y Leo supposes tlie river Neckar, in Alemannia, to 
have been the frontier; we have followed the map of Dr. Spruner. 



SECOND PERIOD.— KINGDOMS OF THE FRANKS. 



31 



walls. Turones (Tours), and NjVmnete (Nantes), on the same 
river, and Venedi Castrum (Vannes), on the coast of the ocean, 
were the most thriving cities in this part of Gaul, which hither- 
to had escaped the havoc of war. 

112. AquiTANiA (Aquitaiue), the last and most important 
of the conquests of Clovis in Gaul, comprised all the beautiful 
and fertile territory between the Loire and the Pyrenees. It 
had, for one century, been the seat of the Visigoths, who had 
already arranged themselves quite comfortably in the country, 
with Toulouse for their capital, thus securing their possessions 
beyond the mountains in Spain. But the Visigoths, being 
Arian heretics, were hated by the clergy and the Roman popu- 
lation of Aquitania, and when their king, Alaric II., fell in 
the battle near Pictavis (Poitiers), 507, against Clovis, they 
lost the whole rich province, and remained only in the doubtful 
possession of Septimania, the narrow coastland between the 
Pyrenees and the Rhone. BiTuracvE (Bourges) and Ara^er- 
Nos — Ciartis Mons — (Clermont), on the Elavcr{A\lier) ; Bur- 
DiGALA (Bordeaux), and Tolosa (Toulouse), on the Garumna 
(Garonne) ; Elusa (Auch), in the south, — all these held the 
first rank among the Aquitanian cities. 

Division of the Frank Empire among the Merovingian 
Princes. 

11 3.' The large empire which Clovis had founded was, at his 

_;^ death, in a. d. 511, divided between his four sons — Thierry, 

L>Chlodomir, Childebert, and Chlothaire — and it formed still 

i^our kingdoms in 527. Every one of the four kings possessed 

'■' a portion of his land lying between the Loire and the Rhine, 

— the first conquest of the Franks — and another part in Aqui- 

; taine, the new acquisition from the Visigoths, where the Franks 

/ had not yet obtained firm footing, but which they loved particu- 

/ larly for its fertility, and the richness of its wines and other 

l,^ productions. 

114. I. Kingdom of Suessiones (Soissons), on the north- 
west, extended from the capital in the south, northward to the 
sea, and eastward to the Mosa (Meuse) and the Rhine — with 
the cities Tornacum (Tournay), the residence of Childeric the 
father of Clovis; Taruenna (Therouanne) and Camaracum 
(Cam bray), the capitals of two Prankish petty kings whom 
Clovis had slaughtered ; Ambiani (Amiens), and Laudunum 
(Laon). 

In Aquitaine the king of Soissons possessed the central 
cities Limovicas (Limoges), and Petragoriui\i (Perigueus). 

115. II. The kingdom of Parish (Paris), in the centre, 
extended from the river Somme westward beyond the Garonne, 
embracing the coast of Aquitaine. Parish was the capital, 
Meldunum (Mekm), Meld^ (Meaux), Rotomagus (Rouen), 
Ebroica (Evreux), Redones (Rennes), and Namnete (Nantes), 
the principal cities. In Aquitaine, the king held Pictavis 
(Poitiers), three leagues from which, on the banks of the 
CTi«ni<s(Clain), was the celebrated field of Vouille — -Campus 
Vocladensis — --where Clovis, by rapidity, skill, and bravery, 
defeated and destroyed the Visigothic army in 507 — Santo- 
nes (Saintes), and Burdigala (Bordeaux), were flourishing 
cities. 

116. III. The kingdom of Aurelianum (Orleans), south 
and east of the former, of smaller extent, on both banks of the 
Loire from Autissiqdorum (Auxerre), westward to Andegavi 
(Angers). Meduana (Le Mans), the former residence of a 
Prankish petty king, slaughtered by order of Clovis. In 
northern Aquitaine, Bituric^e (Bourges), on the Avarus 
(Evres), belonged to king Chlodomir. 

117. IV. The kingdom of Mettis (Metz), the most exten- 
sive of the four, because it comprised all the eastern provinces 
of the Franks ; from Colonia, on the Rhine, to Tolosa, lately 



the splendid capital of the Visigoths, on the Garonne. It 
contained besides, on the right bank of the Rhine, Old France^ 
the homestead of the Franks and of the tributary Alemanni. 
Mettis was the capital ; Treviris (Treves), rebuilt from its 
ashes. Catalauni (Chalons sur Marne), south of which, on 
the Catalaunian plains, was fought that terrible battle be- 
tween Attila Avith his Huns and allies, and the Roman general 
Aetius, in which 150,000 Avarriors perished on the field, and 
the power of the Huns was broken for ever (a. d. 451). Other 
cities were Trec^e (Troyes), and Arvernos or Claramontis 
(Clermont). In Aquitania, Cadurcum (Cahors), Rutena (Rho- 
dez), and Albige (Alby). 

118. Government and Constitution of the Franks. — 
Clovis Avas only a leader at the head of his Prankish leudes 
— laite — or followers in Gaul ; he had no regular government : 
he depended on the good will of his fierce companions. But 
his continual victories consolidated his power ; the Romish 
church gaA'e him pomp and titles, and the Byzantine emperor 
purple and dignities — all combined raised him above aU 
his rivals, who soon perished, one after the other, by his 
dagger. The conquered lands were distributed among the 
veteran soldiers ; the army formed the mallum or public 
assembly, which was called together in spring on the CJiamj) 
de Mars. The cities continued to be governed by the Ro- 
man law with their own municipalities. A royal count or 
G-raf, held the executive poAver, collected the duties and pre- 
sided over the courts of justice, where the Franks had settled 
down among the native Romans. In the rural districts the 
peasantry remained serfs as they had been before the conquest 
The German division in gaiten was introduced. Ten free 
estates, allodia, formed a zehnt or community governed by a 
Zeh.ntman, or Bailiff. Ten communities again made a mark 
— Anglo-Saxon hundred — of which the governor was a cen- 
tenarius, or cent-graf. An uncertain number of marks formed 
a gau or glieve (county), with a gau-graf as military and civil 
commander. The body of the Frankic warriors possessed the 
conquered lands, yet they left the vanquished Romans in the 
enjoyment of usus fructus as vassals. The Romans formed 
two classes : 1, Possessors or lides (A^assals) having half the 
iveJir geld (security money) with which the life of a freeborn 
Frank was secured ; 2, Tributary Romans, with a wehr-geld 
similar to the serf The Franks formed three classes : 1 , Sa- 
lian Franks, the conquerors or nobles ; 2,- German freemen, 
found in the country ; 3, barbarian allies under the Salic law. 
The Salic lands were held by military tenure, and could not 
go to the females.*^ The possessor was the baron (wehr or war- 
man) ; he held with battle-axe and buckler under the hamiuni. 
Entirely diiferent was the allodium^'' — sors — or lot of land, 
given to those veterans who retired from the retinue or 
from the army ; this was real estate, and could be alienated. 
The Mayor Domus (afterwards so important an official) held 
the military cash as the director of the royal fiscus ; he 
was chosen by the warriors, and considered their patron 
against the king ; thus the influence of this oflScer arose 
from his position at the head of the army. The king's 

'° Salica, not from sala {domus), but from Terra Salica, that is, terra 
paterna, the Salian Franks being the leading tribe that gave their name 
to the patrimony. 

^' Od, or odel, in the ancient Teiitonic and Scandinavian languages, 
signified riches, propertj', or landed estate. Al-od is all property, the 
Avhole free estate, Avhieli the Franks rendered in Latin by allodium. 
The free peasants in Norway are still called Odeh-bOnder, freeholders 
or yeomen. Feh or feo — in Danish foe — signified cattle, money, and 
every kind of movable property ; it denoted, likewise, the pay of the 
warrior : thus, feh-od can literally be translated by paid wages, or 
acquired income — the rcAvard for rendered service. In the Latin of 
the Middle Ages this was expressed by feodum and feudum, of which 
we form ouv fief mil feud. 



« 



SECOND PERIOD.— BURGUNDIANS—THUmNGIANS—LONGOBARDS—GEPIDJE. 



companions in trust were the Antrustiones, with particular 
privileges. The other warriors were the leudes, among 
whom the estates were distributed. Immense were the 
prerogatives of the Romish clergy. They flattered Clovis, 
and shut their eyes to all his enormous crimes. The Franks 
loved show and glitter, and soon took a certain polish, though 
the proud Romans still ridiculed their homely dress and un- 
wieldy arms. Clovis planted the germ of lawful liberty, by 
the enfranchisement of the Church and by the bonds of the feu- 
dal system, which united the warring Germanic tribes and pre- 
pared the formation of large national states. Clovis marched 
from town to town at the head of his leudes ; but his success- 
ors, the Merovingians, lived retired in their rural palaces, far 
away from the Roman cities. One hundred and sixty of those 
villas were scattered through the provinces of the four king- 
doms ; mostly simple, but profitable farms. The mansion of 
the longhaired King was surrounded by barns, covirts, sta- 
bles for horses and cattle, poultry-yards, and dove-cotes ; the 
gardens were planted with useful vegetables ; the various 
trades and labors of agriculture, even the arts of hunting and 
fishing were exercised by servile hands for the pleasure of the 
king. He lived among his vassals like a farmer, and the 
whole establishment was conducted on the principle of private 
economy. To the mallum, or national assembly, the king and 
queen used to drive in a clumsy cart, drawn by oxen. The 
Merovingians became the victims of their sloth and their 
crimes — that the Carlovingians might shine forth as their 
heroes and successors. 



VIII. Kingdom of the Burgundians. 

119. Extent, Division, and Principal Cities. — The 
Burgundians had in a. d. 410, stopped at the foot of the Alps, 
and occupied the valleys of Helvetia and the Rhone, while 
their fierce companions, the Vandals, pushed on to Spain. 
Clovis had attempted their subjection, but the Burgundian 
power did not sink until his sons repeated the blow in 534, 
when the Burgundian states were divided among the Prankish 
princes, and the Ostrogoths, under Theodoric, possessed them- 
selves of the coast-lands of Provence. The cities in Bur- 
gundy were flourishing. Janua (Geneva) on Lake Leman. — 
BESONTio(BesanQon) on the Dubis (Doubs). — Cabilonum (Cha- 
lons) on the Arar (Saone) — the capital and the flnest city of 
Burgundy during the period of its independence. — Vienna 
(Vienne), on the left bank of the Rhone. — -Avenig (Avignon), 
more south, celebrated for its brave resistance against the vic- 
torious Clovis, who was forced to raise the siege on the 
approach of the Ostrogoths. The Burgundians had concluded 
a compact with the native Romans, by which the latter agreed 
to surrender to the victors two-thirds of their estates, the half 
of their forests, gardens, and houses, and a third of the whole 
number of their slaves. During fifty years, evei-y freeman 
obtained this allodium (lot) from his Burgundian lord. The 
estates were hereditary. Pasture and agriculture were the 
business of freemen, while all mechanical employments, in- 
cluding arts, belonged to the servile class. Thus the ancient 
Germanic manners of the Burgundians were long maintained in 
their primitive simplicity. Wives were purchased, and they 
might be dismissed in case of poisoning or witchcraft. The 
crimes of the Burgundian dynasty hastened the overthrow of 
the nation. The Franks, to revenge their queen Chlotilda, 
laid waste Burgundy with fire and sword. When Gondemar fell 
in 534, the kingdom became extinct, and the family of Clovis 

-,-V governed Burgundy by a duke, and the country on both slopes 
■J of Mount Jura by a patrician. The Burgundians were the 

._L most humane and civilized of the barbarian tribes that settled 
. in the Roman provinces. 






IX. KlNGDOJI OF THE ThURINGIANS. 

120. Position, Extent, and Downfall. — In the centre 
of Germany, south of the Langobards and the Saxons, 
the Hermunduri and Turoni, with relics of other Germanic 
tribes, had formed the powerful kingdom of Thuringia, 
embracing the northern part of the present Franconia and 
the Saxon principalities north of the Thuringer Wald. This 
empire became so flourishing toward the middle of the fifth 
century, that the Thuringian king, Basinus, was strong enough 
to check the advance of the Sclavonian invaders beyond the 
Elbe, on the east, and to carry on bloody wars with the Franks 
on the Mayn and Rhine. Basinus was at last defeated by 
Clovis, and Thuringia remained subject to the Franks ; but his 
sons restored its independence, until, during a civil war between 
king Hermanfried and his brothers in 530, the Prankish king 
Dietrich (Thierry), in alliance with the rapacious Saxons, suc- 
ceeded in overthrowing the Thuringian dynasty. Hermanfried 
was defeated on the river Unstrut, captured and stabbed ; the 
Saxons occupied all the lands on the Elbe and Weser north 
of the forests ; and Dietrich united southern Thuringia with 
the Prankish empire, yet the vanquished nation was permitted 
to be governed by their native dukes. Schidingi (now Scheid- 
ungen,uear Naumburg), on the Unstrut, was the capital. The 
Thuringians were celebrated for their agriculture and studs ; 
their beautiful horses, sent as presents to King Theodoric, ex- 
cited the admiration of the Goths in Italy. 



X. Kingdom of the Longobards. 

121. Position. — This Scandinavian nation, whom we left on 
the Elbe (82), had continued their march southward, and settled 
among the Carpathian mountains, where they shared the com- 
mon fate with the other Germanic tribes who were vanquished 
by Attila and forced to follow his banner. Yet on the death 
of the mighty conqueror in 452, the Longobards, uniting with 
their brethren the Ostrogoths, the Gepidae and Herules, broke 
their chains, and, driving the Huns back toward Mount Cau- 
casus, they established themselves on the left bank of the 
Danube, from the Margus (March) near Vienna, eastward to 
the Theiss, where they remained until their victory over the 
Gepidse, and their descent into Italy under Alboin in a. d. 568. 

XI. Kingdom of the Gepidj3. 

122. Position. — The Gepidse (90) were kindred to the 
Goths, and a highly remarkable people. Their King Ardaric, 
uniting with Goths and Longobards, defeated EUac the son of 
Attila, in the terrible battle on the banks of the river Netad 
(Neutra), in Pannonia, and expelled the Hims beyond the Car- 
pathians. The Gepida3 then divided the rich spoils of their 
victory with their allies, and formed a great kingdom in an- 
cient Pannonia and Dacia (Hungary and Transylvania), bor- 
dering south and west on the Danube, which separated them 
from the Byzantine empire and the kingdom of the Ostrogoths. 
On the northwest they bordered on their allies the Longo- 
bards, with whom they soon entered into those hostile relations 
of rivalry and national hatred which a century later (in 567) 
terminated with the total destruction of the brave and high- 
minded Gepidian nation. The Carpathian mountains protected 
their northern and eastern frontier from the invasions of the 
Bulgarians, Avars, and other Tartaric tribes, who were already 
advancing from Mount Oural and the Caspian Sea. Etzel- 
BURG (Buda-Pesth), on the Danube, the splendid Oriental 
camp and capital of Attila, became the residence of the Gepi- 



SECOND PERIOD.— VISIGOTHS— SUEVI— OSTROGOTHS. 



33 



dian Kings, wlio, like their brethren the Goths and Vandals, 
soon yielded to the influence of the milder climate, and chang- 
ed their austere northern manners for the luxury and indul- 
gences of the South. 

§111. SOUTHERN EUROPE. 

XII. KINGDOM OF THE VISIGOTHS. 

123. Extent and Division. — The most flourishing of 
the kingdoms founded by the Germanic nations on the ruins of 
the western Roman Empire, was that of the Visigoths in Spain. 
After the Vandals had abandoned (in 429) the provinces which 
they occupied, the Visigoths, under their king Euric, van- 
quished the Romans, subdued the Suevi in 585, and thus re- 
mained the only conquerors of the Peninsula. The greatest ex- 
tension had their empire under the just mentioned king Euric, 
during the latter half of the fifth century, when they possessed 
besides Spain the entire southwestern part of Gaul as far as 
the Loire, with Aquitania and Narbonensis. The capital of 
their empire was the populous and beautiful Tolosa (Toulouse), 
still glittering with so many monuments of Roman magnifi- 
cence. But when on the advance of Clovis with his Frank?, the 
Roman population of Aquitania broke forth in rebellion, and 
the Visigoth King Alaric II. was defeated and killed in the bat- 
tle near Poitiers in 507, all the Trans-Pyrenean possessions were 
lost to the invaders, with the exception of the coast-land of 
Septimania. The Ostrogoths from Italy then occupied Pro- 
vence, which was afterwards incorporated with Burgundy and 
fell to the Franks. The Byzantine Romans still possessed the 
southeastern coast of Spain on the Mediterranean, where they 
strengthened their garrisons in the important commercial cities 
of that region, after the subjection of the Vandals in Africa by 
Belisarius in 534. They even extended the Roman rule in the 
interior as far as Corduba ; but the Visigothic kings, Sisebut 
and Swinthila, expelled them at last (616-624) entirely from 
Spain ; nay, the former of these kings even crossed the Straits 
and occupied the cities Septum and Tingis, in the ancient Ro- 
man province of Tingitana. The wild mountaineers in the 
Cantabrian mountains, the Arevaci, Ruccones, Berones, and 
Varduli, who had so long preserved their old political inde- 
pendence and their native dialects, were subdued by King 
Leuwigild in 574, and new fortresses were erected to check 
their forays into the lowlands. The Visigoths retained the 
ancient Roman division of Spain in Tarracojia, Carthaginien- 
sis, Bcstica, Emerita, Tokticm, and Bracara. 

124. The Principal Cities were, in Septimania, the seven 
towns which had given the province its name, Narbona (Nar- 
bonne), for a time the new capital of the monarchy, after the 
loss of Tolosa, in 507. Carcassona (Carcassonne), where the 
victorious Clovis kept the son of Alaric II., Gesalic, besieged, 
after the battle of Poitiers and the death of his father. Ele- 
na (Elna), at the northern base of the Pyrenees. Biterr^, 
(Beziers), Magdalona (Maguelonne), Lodeva (Lodeve), and 
Nemausus (Nimes). In Spain we find the most flourishing 
cities of the late Roman empire. Barcinona (Barcelona), on 
the northeastern coast of the Mediterranean, where Astol- 
phus was assassinated, shortly after his arrival in Spain, and 
where Gesalic was defeated by Ubbas, the Ostrogoth general. 
Tarraco (Tarragona), Carthago Nova (Carthagena), long in 
the possession of the Byzantine Greeks ; Augusta Emerita 
(Merida) on the river Anas ; Corduba (Cordova), and Hispalis 
(Seville) on theBgetis, likewise long defended by the Greeks ; and 
last of all Toletum (Toledo), on the Tagus, the splendid capital, 
and archiepiscopal seat of the later' Visigoth empire, where 
many important councils were held during the 6th and 7th 
centuries. 

5 



125. Government and Constitution. — The constitution of 
the Visigothic empire received a very early development. The 
kings were elective ; but the royal descendants had preten- 
sions to the crown. The kings enjoyed a greater power than 
among other German tribes. King Leuwigild donned the royal 
purple, and circumscribed the arrogance of the nobles ; 
but the clergy exercised a most dangerous influence, and 
intolerance against Arians and Jews already flashed forth 
in violence and cruelty. Toledo became the capital ; the 
court was splendid ; the ceremonials and costumes were 
imitations from Constantinople. The Palatines or court 
oflacials, and the Gardingi or body gniards, formed the no- 
bility ; counts governed the provinces ; the Gothic nobles, by 
the perfect security of Spain, gave themselves up to sport and 
rural pursuits, and neglected those military exercises by which 
they had subdued the Roman world. The Goths being the 
few, and the civilized Roman inhabitants the many, it is natu- 
ral that the Goths soon attempted to speak the lingua vulgare 
of those times : from the curious mixture of Gothic and 
vulgar Latin, arose the noble and beautiful Castilian, perhaps 
the most sonorous, regular, and elegant of all the modern 
Romanic languages. The Visigothic laws were humane and 
just ; they were nearly a copy of the Theodosian code, applied to 
the now mixed races of Goths, Romans, Suevi and Alani. The 
experiment succeeded, because within a century they all formed 
only one nationality. Spain, in its secluded position, enjoyed 
a great tranquillity during the Visigothic sway. Some ports 
on the eastern coast still belonged to the Eastern Roman em- 
pire; but the Greeks gave them up, and returned in 624. 
The Suevi in the northwest recognized the supremacy of the 
Visigothic king ; yet never was any elective monarchy exposed 
to more terrible convulsions than those which shook the Visi- 
gothic throne. The passions of envy and revenge played 
their unhappy game on a greater scale than in any other 
realm, and at last caused the sudden overthrow of the Gothic 
sway in Spain. 

XIII. Kingdom of the Suevi. 

126. Extent and Cities. — The kingdom of the Suevi, or 
Alemanni, as they sometimes are called, was founded in a. d. 
409, in the ancient Gallicia, which this people in the begin- 
ning divided with their companions, the Vandals, and some 
bands of Alani, who had escaped the Huns, and joined the 
large Germanic armies on the Rhine. The Suevi settled in 
Asturia, Leon, Gallicia, and a portion of the modern Por- 
tugal. Their frontier was the Durius and Tagus, while the 
Alani occupied some districts of Lusitania, south of the Tagus, 
where they disappear altogether. When the Vandals crossed 
over to Africa in 428, the Suevi remained in quiet possession 
of northwestern Spain, though they were not strong enough 
entirely to subdue the native population. On the appearance 
of the Visigoths the struggle was renewed, and the Suevian 
king Recchiaris was defeated and beheaded in 456, by King 
Theodoric of the Visigoths. The Suevi still made a stand, 
until at last Leuwigild, in 585, united both crowns, and thus 
secured the tranquillity of the peninsula. 

XIV. Kingdom of the Ostrogoths. 

* 127. Extension and Division. — At the moment when 
Justinian ascended the throne of Constantinople, the founder 
of the Ostrogoth monarchy, and its most illustrious sovereign, 
Theodoric, had just died, leaving his nephew a splendid em- 
pire, which embraced the coasts of the Adriatic and Tuscan 
seas, and extended from the banks of the Danube and the Alps 
on the north, to the southern promontories of Sicily on the 



34 



SECOND PERIOD.— KINGDOM OF THE OSTROGOTHS. 



south, and from the bauks^of the Rhone on the west, to the 
union of the Save with the Danube on the east, where its 
limits touched those of the Byzantine empire. Theodoric 
had, in 489-93, made an easy conquest of Italy, after the 
defeat of Odoacer and his Herules in the battles near Ve- 
rona, and the surrender of Ravenna ; and by his prudence, 
moderation and benevolence, and the brilliant talents of his 
minister, Cassiodorus, he peaceably formed that mighty and 
well-oro-anized kingdom, which was destined so soon to crum- 
ble into dust by the incapacity and frailty of his unhappy 
daughter, Amalasuntha. 

128. Provinces and Cities. — This extensive monarchy 
was composed of provinces that had belonged to the Western 
Empire, and which Theodoric permitted to preserve their 
earlier names and limits. These provinces from northwest to 
southeast were the following : 

129. I. 'PRoyiNciA Arej.atensiSjOv P7-ovi7ice of Marseille, 
at a subsequent period well known tmder the name of Pro- 
vence. It consisted of the whole part of -ancient Gaul con- 
tained between the Rhone, the Durance, the Maritime Alps, 
and the Mediterranean. Theodoric formed of it, in 5 11 , a new 
Prcefecture of tlie Gauls, the metropolis of which was Arelate 
or Aries. Near that city he had surprised and defeated the 
Franks in 507 ; and the citizens hailed with joy the Gothic 
rule, which seemed to secure them the important pri- 
vileges and immunities they had formerly enjoyed under the 
Roman empire. This acquisition was extended, in 523, by 
the cession which the king of Burgundy made to Theodoric 
of the Provincia Septentrionalis, north of the Durance, with the 
rich and flourishing towns of Caepentoracte (Carpentras), 
AiiAUSio (Orange), Dinia (Digue), and Valentia( Valence). 

II. Rh.etia Meridionalis, likewise denominated RhcBtia 
Ostrogothica, to distinguish it from Rhastia Septentrionalis, 
which belonged to the Prankish empire — both situated on the 
upper Danube — where the uncertainty of the frontiers between 
the two nations gave rise to diverse embassies and military 
demonstrations. 

130. III. Italia, with its ancient subdiA-isions from the times 
of the Roman empire. It was conquered by Theodoric, as we 
have mentioned, after three successful battles against Odoacer, 
the Herulian king ; the first stood on the banks of the Sontius 
(Isonzo), a small river that empties into the Adriatic ; the 
second before Verona in the northeast of Italy, and the third 
on the banks of the Addua (Adda), whence Odoacer fled to Ra- 
venna, where he perished. The most important cities during 
the Ostrogothic period were : Ravenna, situated in the midst 
of the lagunes or swamps on the Adriatic coast. It had be- 
come a splendid city, while serving as refuge and capital to the 
last emperors, and to Odoacer, who kept the whole Ostro- 
gothic nation occupied before its almost impregnable forti- 
fications for nearly three years. Ravenna became afterwards the 
residence of the Ostrogothic kings, and the traveller still ad- 
mires there the sepulchre of Theodoric, the cupola of which 
consists of a single immense rock, being thirty-foui- feet in 
diameter. Rome had already suffered terribly during the two 
sieges and pillages of the Visigoths, under Alaric, in 408-410 ; 
and by the still greater devastation in 455, from the barbarous 
Generic and his Vandals. Poor Rome was afterwards taken 
by her own mercenary bands, the Herules ; and, a fifth time, 
by Theodoric and his Ostrogoths, who, however, treated the 
fallen city with that deference and sympathy which the ancient 
metropolis of the civilized world merited ; nay, he restored 
many of its crumbling monuments, preserved its senate and 
municipal administration, and won the hearts of its bois- 
terous multitude by granting them panem et circenses. Mi- 
lan, the strongly fortified and industrious metropolis, likewise 
received Theodoric with enthusiasm, when he descended at the 



head of his wandering nation into the plain of the Padus. Ve- 
rona, situated on a mountain range, defending the defiles on the 
river Athesis (Adige), was his frequent residence, and he built 
there palaces and other public buildings, of which some 
ruins are still seen. Pavia, on the Ticinus, where the virtuous 
and eloquent Boethius was unjustly confined, condemned, and 
executed in 525 — the only dark spot in the bright buckler of 
Theodoric. Spoletium, then an important city in central 
Italy. Terracina, the ancient Anxur, on its picturesque 
promontory, still crowned with a fortress, and the ruinous 
palace of the Ostrogoth king. Naples saw again her joyous 
days in the residence of the most distinguished Romans and 
Goths, statesmen and warriors, Cassiodorus and others, who used 
the cure of her hot springs, and revelled in her delicious cli- 
mate.'^ Tarentum, on the gulf to which it gave its name. 
ScYLLAciuM, in Calabria, with a convent to which Cassiodorus 
retired in old age and died, after having served gloriously and 
faithfully Theodoric and his successors. 

131. IV. SiciLiA belonged to the Gothic empire. SyracusyE 
was still the capital of the island ; second , in rank was Lily- 
BiEUM on the western promontory (now Marsala, so celebrated 
for its wines). It was by Theodoric given as a dower to the 
Vandal king Thrasimund, who married his sister Ama- 
lafried. That the Vandals continued to occupy that im- 
portant fortress is proved by an inscription lately found there, 
" Fiiies inter Gothos et Vandalos.'^ 

132. V. Illyricum Occidentale comprised all the provin- 
ces of the ancient diocese of that name, and formed the eastern 
part of Theodoric's possessions, highly important by its position, 
but dreadfully devastated and depopulated by the wars of 
the Huns, Lombards, Gepidte, and other barbarian nations, who 
were then contending with one another on the banks of the Dan- 
ube. Theodoric sent colonists ; he rebuilt Sirmium and Singi- 
dunum on the Savus, and fortified the defences of the lUyrian 
mountains with castles and garrisons. Boioduruh (now Inn- 
stadt), on the upper Danube at the union of the ^nus (Inn) 
with that river, became an important city — so likewise Siscia 
(Sisseck) on the Save, and Salona on the Adriatic coast. 

133. Italy had suffered an awful devastation and destruc- 
tion of its inhabitants during the many different invasions of 
the fifth century ; but the arrival of nearly a million of Goths 
in 489, produced a favorable change. Odoacer had distribut- 
ed one-third of the arable lands of Italy among his Herulian 
warriors. These, Theodoric, after his victory, gave to his Os- 
trogoths, who thus obtained landed property, for which they 
paid the same taxes as the native Romans. It is a well-known 
fact, that at the close of the fifth century, nearly all the estates 
were in the hands of the wealthy senators of Rome ; it was, 
therefore, not the lower classes who suffered by those parti- 
tions of property, but the nobility. The great mass of the Italian 
people had no landed property, and they continued as they 
had done before to live by their labor, by royal offices, and the 
supplies of bread and wine which Theodoric took care to fm-- 
nish to the idle Romans, as well as the spectacles of the 
amphitheatre. Yet the division of lands among the invaders 
seems to have been circumscribed to northern Italy, where we 
find the Gothic nation more thickly settled. But the Goths 
had been too much estranged from the quiet occupations of 
agriculture, on a sudden to change the plough for the sword. 
They remained principally engaged in military exercises and 
hunting, and left the tilling and gardening of their farms to 
their numerous serfs. Nor did the two different nationalities 
of Germans and Romans ever mix ; religion, language, habits, 

■■** See the pleasant passages in the leltei-3 of Cassiodoriis, wliereia 
he describes the beauty and fertility of Campania. In his affected lan- 
guage, he calls the wine cruentiis liquor, purpura potabilis, violeum nec- 
tar!" Var. 8, 31; 9, 6, 11; 10, 14; 12, 14, 15. 



SECOND PERIOD.— OSTEOGOTHS— VANDALS— BYZANTINE GREEKS. 



35 



all kept them asunder. The Goths had, like most of the other 
Germanic tribes, embraced the abhorred Arian heresy. They 
were continually armed ; large bodies united for their regular 
drill, and their entire organization was military. Theodoric 
foresaw that the relaxation of their discipline beneath the 
sunny sky of Italy would become their bane ; he commanded 
their gatherings and manoeuvres ; he settled warlike bauds 
of the Alemauni in Rhastia ; Gepidte, and the wrecks of the 
Herules in Illyricuni and on the banks of the Padus ; and 
he improved the breed of his war-horses by the establishment 
of large studs in the Apulian plains. He was anxious to 
instruct his Barbarians in the arts of Rome, the building of 
fortresses, palaces, aqueducts, and the draining of the Pontine 
swamps ; but he prohibited them the enjoyments of her litera- 
ture, and said : " That he who trembles at the whip of the 
schoolmaster, will always flinch at the flashing of the sword." 
Theodoric, on the other hand, made no alteration in the inter- 
nal division and organization of the country and its government ; 
he left the vanquished Romans their privileges and liberties, 
as they called the vain names of republic, consuls, senate, and 
municipal magistracies. Romans and Ostrogoths lived peace- 
fully together on terms of temporary friendship or forbearance. 
The blue-eyed, fair-haired Goth, so proud of his long, golden 
ringlets, hanging down over his shoulders, and the beard that 
covered his mouth, continued to dress in skins and furs, wore 
his long sleeves and wide trowsers tied at the knees and ankles, 
by leather straps, and stalked about in large brogues, with the 
heavy broadsword at his girdle, and the huge buckler on his 
arm — while his neighbor, the elegant Roman, in his short tu- 
nic, his knees and arms bare, his hair short cropped, his chin 
smoothly shaved, with his large toga gracefully covering his 
shoulders, regarded with horror his unwelcome hyperborean 
guest, though he in silence admired the domestic virtues of the 
Northmen, the modesty and chastity of the Gothic women, 
and the affectionate relations between parents and children. 
Nay, the contemporaneous Greek and Roman writers give the 
unanimous testimony, that the quiet and beneficent reign of 
Theodoric might be considered as the most perfect example 
of the happiness which a kind-hearted and generous prince 
could spread around him. The precious collection of 
original letters and decrees of Theodoric, written and pub- 
lished by his active secretary Cassiodorus Senator, gives the 
most detailed and interesting description of the progress and 
development of the country during this period of unclouded 
prosperity. We admire the attentive care of the indefatigable 
Ostrogothic monarch in promoting every branch of political 
economy, and we read with delight the glowing description in 
Cassiodorus of the cultivation and restored salubrity of Italy. 
There was abundance of wine, oil, fruit, grain, even for export. 
He praises the gardens of Reggio and Squillace, the beauty 
of Baj^, near Naples, the precious wines of Verona, which 
were duly appreciated at the royal board, and it appears from 
his enthusiastic account of the vintage, that greater care was 
then taken with the noble wines of Italy than at the present 
time. Theodoric was the greatest chai-acter of the sixth cen- 
tury, a true practical genius, who went to the point in all his 
undertakings and did his work thoroughly ; and it is inter- 
esting to the philosopher to see how much an intelligent monarch, 
assisted by such a statesman as Cassiodorus Senator, was able 
to create and establish in a reign of thirty-three years. He 
found Italy (489), a desert covered with ruins, swamps 
and forests, where the wild beasts were roaming — and he left 
it (526), a garden, a flourishing country, repeopled with the 
healthy and active Gothic race, and restored to commerce, ag- 
riculture, industry and a higher civilization, which might have 
been of lasting benefit to humanity, if another bright genius 
like his could have completed the amalgamation of the Roman 



and Gothic elements, and secured the permanent happiness of 
the two races. But the incapacity of his successors, and the 
ambition of Justinian, soon brought on those calamitous wars 
which terminated thirty years later, with the renewed desola- 
tion of Italy, and the total destruction of the Ostrogothic na- 
tion. 

XV. KlNGDOBI OF THE VaNDALS. 

134. Their Possessions in Europe and Africa. — After 
the easy conquest of Spain in 428, the Vandals were in- 
vited by the persecuted Donatist sectarians, to invade Africa 
and their enterprising king Genseric, crossing the straits, soon 
overran the whole of northern Africa, from the coast of the 
Atlantic Ocean eastward to the great Syrtis, and building a 
numerous fleet at Carthage, he subjected the islands of the 
Mediterranean, Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, and the Balearic 
isles. His roving Vandals became now as daring corsairs 
on the sea, as they formerly had been irresistible cavaliers on 
the main land. Genseric sacked Rome in 455, and the Van- 
dals extended their piratical expeditions e-ven to the Pelopon- 
nesus, where they were defeated by the Maniatse, the modern 
Spartans. He undertook no changes in the government of 
Africa, and Latin was the official language among the Vandals, 
but they treated the poor African Romans with cruelty and 
scorn ; they deprived them of the best lands, exacted immense 
taxes, and excited the bitterest feelings of revenge in the 
bosoms of their serfs. Nor could the Vandals get a firm 
footing in that extensive country. The Moorish tribes from 
Mount Atlas drove them from the entire coast lands between 
Tingis and Cassarea. The four successors of Genseric did 
not inherit his talents. Thrasamund abandoned Sicily to the 
Ostrogoth Theodoric to secure his assistance ; only the impor- 
tant port of LilybaDum he received back as the dower of the 
Gothic princess whom he married (131). Sardinia was used 
as a place of banishment, and during the violent religious dis- 
sensions in the African church, Thrasamund sent two hundred 
and twenty bishops in exile to that island. The Vandals were 
the first among the northern barbarians who became corrupted 
by the luxuriance of a southern sky, and while they were re- 
ducing the industrious native Christians to thraldom, and 
themselves revelling in their fragrant gardens and shady villas, 
they were suddenly surprised, prostrated and annihilated by 
the sword of Belisarius ; and the Vandal nation leaves nothing 
behind them in the world except the hateful word Vandalism, 
denoting their wanton delight in destruction.^'^ 



XVI. The Eastern Empire. 

135. Extent. — At the accession of Justinian I. the By- 
zantine empire still preserved almost the same limits as it had 
one hundred and thirty-two years before (395-527), at the 
division of the Roman empire by Theodosius. In Europe, 
we have the Danube, the Save, the Drinus, the Barbana, and 
the Mediterranean around the great Illyrian peninsula. On 
the Black Sea the Greco-Romans occupied the southern coast 
of the Taurian Chersonese (Crimea), the interior of which was 
inhabited by a fugitive German tribe, the friendly Tetraxitan 
Goths (91), who had refused to follow the banner of Theodo- 
ric to Italy, and enjoyed the protection of the Byzantine em- 
perors. Nor had the Romans lost territory in the east. Since 
the cession of Nisibis, in the war against king Sapor in 363, 
the Mesopotamian frontiers had been fortified by Anastasius 
with the important castle of Dara (13), fourteen miles 

^^ Andalusia (Vandalos), in Spain, is said to have its name from the 
Vandals. 



36 



THIRD PERIOD.— NORTHERN AND CENTRAL EUROPE. 



west of Nisibis. It was still more strengthened by Jvistinian, 
and became the bulwark of the empire during the bloody wars 
with the Persians (96), which secured the Roman influence 
over Armenia Minor, and the Lazic, Albanian, and Iberian 
tribes of Mount Caucasus. 

136. Provinces and Principal Cities. — The provincial 
division of the empire likewise remained the same, and 
it still consisted of the three dioceses of Thrace (belonging to the 
PrEcfecture of the Orient), and those of Dacia and Macedonia, 
which formed the Illyrian Praefecture. They also preserved 
their seventeen provinces, whose capitals were, after Constanti- 
nople, the most important cities in this part of the empire. 
We here mention only Adrianople, Philippople, Marcian- 
OPLE, in the diocese of Thrace ; Thessalonica, Dyrrachium, 
and Corinth in Macedonia; and Sardica, in Dacia. 

137. Frontiers of the Empire at the death of Jus- 
tinian, A. D. 565. — With the reign of that emperor began the 
terrible invasions of the Sclavonic nations from the Danube ; 
but although the Bulgarians and the Avars advanced into the 
heart of the empire, and besieged Constantinople herself, they 
were nevertheless successfully repulsed ; and at the death of 
the emperor in 565, the Oriental Empire still preserved its 
old frontiers on the north, east, and south ; while on the 
west, the borders had been extended by the glorious conquests 
of Belisarius and Narses, in Europe, to the Alps and the 
western extremities of the Mediterranean, and in Africa, to the 
shores of the Atlantic Ocean. Several ports on the southern 
coast of Spain, from the Straits of Hercules (now Gibraltar) to 
the environs of Valencia, were likewise occupied by the garri- 
sons of the empire. The northern frontier, on the Danube, had 
been strengthened with fifty-two new fortresses, all the ancient 
fortifications had been repaired, so had likewise the celebrated 
long ivalls^ built by the Emperor Anastasius (417), for a 
length of eighteen miles, from the Propontis, across Thrace, 
to the Black Sea, and advantageously situated for the defence 
of Constantinople. 

138. Acquisitions in the West. — The countries com- 
prised within these limits which, during the reigTi of Justin- 
ian had been added to the empire, were the following : 

139. In Europe. I. The southern part of the ancleut dio- 
cese of Illyricum Occidentale, along the upper course of the 
Save, to the Carnian Alps, and the Istrian Peninsula on the Adri- 
atic. Ragusa, with an excellent harbor on the coast, was built 
during the reign of Justinian, by the inhabitants of the ancient 
city of Epidaurus, which the Sclavonians had destroyed during 
their invasion. The Illyrian Prasfecture, to which this newly 
acquired province was added, received now for metropolis Jus- 
tiniana Prima (Griustendil), a magnificent city, that rose by 
the order of Justinian, on the site of the small village of 
Tauresium, where that monarch had been born, in the hut 
of a humble shepherd (35). 

II. Italy, which was conquered by Belisarius and Narses, 
after a most tremendous war of eighteen years (535-553), 
during which Rome was five times taken by the Greeks, and 
retaken by the Goths. It was during the siege that Belisa- 
rius built the wall between the present Porta del Popolo, and 
Porta Salaria, which is still extant, under the name of Muro 
Storto di Belisario, and that the Greek defenders of the Moles 
Kadriani (Castle of Sant Angelo), hurled the magnificent sta- 
tues ou the heads of the storming Barbarians. Milan, then 
the most populous and brilliant city in the west, after Rome, 
was likewise taken and destroyed by the Prankish auxiliaries 
of the- Ostrogoths, in the course of the war. Ravenna suf- 
fered likewise all the vicissitudes of the most barbarous war- 
fare. Tagines, Tagina, in Umbria, on the western slope of 
Mount Apennine, near Spoletium, where the great and deci- 



sive battle took place between Narses and the king Totilas, iu 
which the Goths were defeated, with the loss of their king 
and bravest warriors. The spot where the thousands of 
corpses were burnt after the battle, was still for centuries 
called Busta Gothorum. Naples had, at the beginning of 
the war, been taken by Belisarius, by a surprise, through a 
subterranean aqueduct. Nocera, at the foot of Mount Vesu- 
vius, where the desperate Goths, led on by their last king, 
Tejas, made an ultimate cfi"ort against Narses, who there ter- 
minated the war by their total destruction or capture. 

Sicily, Sardinia^ Corsica, and the Balearic isles, had 
likewise fallen back to the allegiance of the emperor. 

140. In Africa, the sovereign of Constantinople had re- 
conquered all the possessions of the Western Empire, from 
the Great Syrtis to the distant shores of the Atlantic, and 
Carthage, which so willingly had opened its gates to the vic- 
torious Belisarius, had again become the metropolis of ortho- 
dox Christians. Tricomarum, six leagues northwest of Car- 
thage, where the battle was fought between Belisarius and 
Gelimer, the Vandal usurper, which decided the fate of the 
Barbarians. The site of Mount Pappua, at the extremity of 
Numidia, to which Gelimer after his defeat fled for refuge, is 
not known, and it seems difiicult, on the indefinite description 
of Procopius, to fix the place with accuracy. 

After the defeat of the Vandals, some of whom were sent as 
soldiers to the Persian frontiers, and the remainder dispersed 
and lost sight of in the interior of Africa, Justinian had still, 
during several years, some trouble with the roving mountaineers 
of Mount Atlas, the Kabyles and Maurusians, who in vain at- 
tempted from their strongholds on the outskirts of the desert, 
to profit by the change of dominion, and the religious dissen- 
sions, in order to recover the fertile country which the ancient 
Romans had taken from them. 



CHAPTER IV. 

EUROPE. 

ITS POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY AFTER THE INVASION OF 
THE AVARS AND THE LONGOBARDS IN THE SECOND 
HALF OF THE SIXTH CENTURY/" 

General Remarks. We have seen the position of the 

old world at the accession of Justinian I., a. d. 527. Half a 
century from that time take place the two last important mi- 
grations, those of the Avars and the Longobards, between the 
years 568 and 574, which produce so great a change in the 
political geography of Europe, that it will be necessary to 
explain their results. We shall, however, only confine our- 
selves to indicate rapidly the principal revolutions which oc- 
curred in Europe towards the close of the sixth century, as 
we have already given such full details on the preceding period. 



^ I. NORTHERN EUROPE. 

141. The British Islands have undergone great politiciil 
changes since the beginning of the sixth century. 

In Hibernia — Erin — (Ireland), the difi'erent small king- 
doms became more and more flourishing, principally in conse- 

*" Compare Map No. 2, with Map No. 3. 



THIRD PERIOD.— ANGLO-SAXONS— SCANDINAVIANS— FRANKS. 



37 



quence of the rapid propagation of Christianity, that had al- 
ready spread tliroughout the greater part of the island. Yet 
although it contributed generally to soften the character of the 
people, and to inspire them with ideas of religion and morality, 
it was not able to curb the military spirit of the Canfinnies, 
or- "chiefs at the head of their warriors panting for war and 
glory ; and thus the intestine feuds continued in almost every 
part of that beautiful island ; while the learned monks at Ard- 
macha, Benchor, and Killdara, were preparing for their more 
arduous and dangerous missions on the Continent among Saxons, 
Frisians, and Solavonians, who all must with gratitude look 
back to Ireland for their first instruction in the Christian 
faith. 

142. The kingdom of the Scots and Picts, in the north of 
Great Britain, preserved nearly the same limits. Christianity had 
already penetrated into the mountain regions by the strenuous 
exertions of the monks of Saint Columba (101). The an- 
cient Britons were still in possession of the western coast of the 
island, and defended themselves bravely in Cumberland, Wales, 
and Cornwall; but new states were founded on the east- 
ern shores in consequence of later invasions from the shores of 
Denmark. 

143. Kingdoms of the Angles. — While the Saxons 
founded their states in the south (104), new conquerors, the 
Angles, from Schleswig on the Eider and the Baltic, arrived 
on the eastern coast of Britain, where they established three 
new kingdoms between the years 534 and 584. These, together 
with the earlier four Saxon states were henceforth known under 
the name of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. The new settle- 
ments of the Angles were the following : 

NouTHANUMBRiA (Northumberland), so called from its posi- 
tion north of the Humber, was founded in 547 by Ida, the 
Firebrand, a powerful chief, who, with his twelve sons and an 
army of Angles, landed on the Cape of Flamborough, and 
occupied the whole coast from the Humber to the Tweed. It 
soon split into two states : Deira (Deornas), on the south 
of the Tees, and Bernicia (Bryneich), on the north of that 
river ; yet both became, in 560, united again under the same 
king. Eoforwic (York), was the capital of Deira and of all 
Northumberland. Bebbanburgh (Bamborough), built by Ida, 
south of the Tweed, was the first Anglican settlement in Ber- 
nicia. 

East Anglia, ou the coast, northeast of Essex, was 
colonized by Angles from Northumberland, and was erected 
into an independent kingdom by Offa in 571 ; its capital was 
NoRTHWYC (Northwich), on the Yerne. 

Mercia (Myrcna), between Northumbria and Anglia, toward 
the mountains of Wales. The victories of the Saxons had 
roused the Northmen on the Baltic ; one band crossed over 
after another, and pressing forward in the interior, Creoda 
(Cridda), the descendant of Odin, founded in 584 Mercia, the 
mark or border state, against the Briton refugees of Wales, 
and the most powerful kingdom of the Heptarchy. Lindtjm 
(Lincoln), an ancient Roman colony, was the capital. 

How these Dano-Germans.graduallyunited and formed them- 
selves into considerable kingdoms, and how far they respected 
the remains of Roman civilization which they still may have found 
there, we know not ; nor does there exist any written history of 
the seven kingdoms until the time of their conversion to Christi- 
anity. The poor Britons were at last reduced to the western 
mountains of Cambria (103), or sought refuge among their 
Celtic brethren on the opposite coast of Armorica (70). 

144. Scandinavia. — Darkness still covers the north ; the 
dynasties of the Ynglingar at Sigtuna in Sivea-Rike (Sweden), 
and of the Skioldunger at Leire in Dannemark (Denmark), 
begin to extend their dominion over the petty chiefs, the Sea- 
kings and Vi-kings of the islands ; while the Northmen in their 



piratical expeditions, already begin to desolate the southern 
and eastern shores of the Baltic. 



§ n. CENTRAL EUROPE. 

145. Kingdom of the Franks. — The Prankish empire 
had received a considerable extension since the preceding 
period (110). The sons of Clovis*' conquered Thuringia 
in 531, and Burgundy in 534(119), and, taking advantage 
of the distress of the Ostrogoths during the wars with 
the Byzantine emperors, they insidiously obtained the ces- 
sion of Provence from the unhappy king Vitiges in 535. 
Chlothaire I., the last of the sons of Clovis, united the Prankish 
kingdoms in 558-561 ; but, according to the custom of those 
times, he again divided them between his four sons ; and on the 
death of Charibert, there remained the three kingdoms of 
Neustria, Austrasia and Burgundy. The limits of these 
states were drawn in so absurd a manner, that it is impossible 
to give any clear idea of them. The Merovingian kings did not 
attempt to round off their states with easily defended frontiers, 
— their only view was to obtain an equal number of royal do- 
mains, many rich cities, and the best vineyards in the south or on 
the Rhine. Each brother demanded a duchy in Aquitaine; Pa- 
ris, already an important city, was likewise divided among the 
princes, and every one fortified separately his own quarter as 
in time of foreign invasion. We can therefore only give a gen- 
eral outline of the lyrovincial division, which soon became per- 
manent by the development of the separate nationalities of Ger- 
mans, French, Burgundians and Aquitanians, in the subsequent 
period of Charlemagne. 

146. The kingdom of Soissons, now already called Neus- 
tria, or Westria (Wester-Reich), comprised all the provinces 
extending along the sea-shore, from the mouth of the Loire to 
that of the Rhine ; only Brittany, the ancient Armorica, con- 
tinued still independent. A small portion of Northern Aqui- 
taine remained with the king of Neustria. Soissons was the 
capital, and the heart of France. 

147. The kingdom of Austrasia or Ostrasia (Oster- 
Reich), comprehended eastern France and the new conquests 
beyond the Rhine, and, besides, the city and territory of 
Abrincatus (Avranches), on the coast of the kingdom of 
Soissons, and the entire north and south of Aquitaine ; that 
is, the territories of Twrrowes (Tours), oi Pictavis (Poitiers), 
and of Limovicas (Limoges), the entire Arverna (Auvergne), 
the cities and territories of Riitenicus (Rhodez), of Albingen- 
sis (Alby), of Cadiircinus (Cahors), of Tolosanus (Tolouse), 
of Convenas (Comminges), of Consora?zsi,s (Conserans), of Be 
ne.arnia (Beam), of Atura (Aire), and of Burdigalensis 
(Bordeaux). Nay, it seems, even, that several towns of Pro- 
vence, such as Avenio (Avignon), Aqum Sextice (Aix), and 

41 GENEALOGY OF THE MEEOVINGIAN EACE UNTIL DAGOBEET, A. D. 638. 



Thiekry I., 

King of Austrasia. 

511—534 



CnLOBOMIE , 

Kins of Orleans, 
511—644. 



TlIEODEBEKT I. 

534—548. 
j 

Theodebald. 

548-555. 
No posterity. 



Two sons wlio 

were assassinated 

at St. Cloud. 



Clovis oe Chlodyig I. 
481-511. 

Chilbebekt I., 
King of Paris. 

511—558. 
Two daughters. 



CnLOTHAIKE I., 

King of Soissons. 

511—561. 
Sole King in 558. 



Charibert I., 

King of Paris. 

561— 56T. 



GOUTEAN, 

King of Orleans. 
661—593. 



SiGEBERT L, 

King of Austrasia. 
561-576. 



CniLDEBERT II,, 

King of Burgundy. 
576-596. 



Chilpekic 1., 

King of Soissons. 

561—584. 

CnLOTnAIEE II., 

584— 628. 
Sole King in 613. 



Theodebeet II., 

King of Austrasia. 

596—612. 



Thieeey II., 

King of Burgundy. 

596—613. 



Dagobeet I. 
Sole King. 
628—638. 



Chakibeet II. 

Duke of Aquitaine 

628—681. 



38 



THIRD PERIOD.— FRANKS— AVARS— VISIGOTHS— LOMBARDS. 



one-half of Massilia (Marseille), formed part of the kingdom 
of Austrasia. Sigebert, king of this country, perceiving the 
necessity of approaching nearer to his possessions beyond the 
Rhine, removed his royal residence from Rheims, the ancient 
metropolis of that part of Gaul, to Mettis (Metz), on the Mo- 
selle which henceforth became the capital of Austrasia. An- 
DELAUS (Andelot), on the frontiers of Burgundy, is important 
in the history of the Franks, on account of the treaty of 587, 
which fixed the limits between Austrasia and Burgundy, and 
in which we discover the first traces of the hereditary succes- 
sion in the fiefs. 

148. The kingdom of Burgundy, or, as it now was called, 
the kingdom of Oeleans and Buk&undy, because it embraced 
these two kingdoms, extended besides over the territory of Me- 
lodunum (Melun), Frovence, and the western part of Aquita- 
nia (Saintes, Angouleme, P^rigueux, and Agen). Gontran, its 
king, took his residence vr Chalons sur Saone, a position more 
central than that of eithe?^ jf the ancient capitals, Orleans or Lyons. 
Bbredunum (Embrun), at the foot of the Cottian Alps, and Stab- 
LON (Estoublons), more south, on the western slope of the mari- 
time Alps, are remarkable places on account of the victories 
which the Prankish general Mummolus here gained, in 569 
and 570, over the arrogant Lombards and their Saxon allies, 
when the former, not satisfied with their easy conquest of Italy, 
attempted to add Provence likewise to their territories, as 
having formerly belonged to the kingdom of the Ostrogoths. 

149. AvARiA. — The Empire of the Avars occupied for two 
centuries the greater part of eastern Europe, and took the 
place of the kingdoms of the Lombards, Gepidcs, and Bid- 
gcirians, whose position we have described in the beginning of 
the century. The Avars were a Tartaric nation, by the 
Russian historians called 06ri, and by the Franks, Huns (108), 
there being, no doubt, many Huns following along with them. 
The Avars had for centuries inhabited the eastern slope of 
Jlount Oural, when they were defeated by the Turkomans from 
the Caspian, and driven westward. They in their turn subdued 
the Bulgarians on the Euxine, and appeared, to the terror of the 
Greeks, on the Danube, in 560. Justinian averted the storm 
jrith rich presents. All Slavia, eastern Germany as far as 
Franconia, and Bavaria, were devastated by that cruel and 
restless people, which for more than two centuries proved the 
scourge of Europe (560-796). They occupied all Bohemia 
and subdued the Sorabian Slavi in the present Saxony and 
Lausitz. In 563 they penetrated into Thuringia, where they 
for the first time came in contact with the Franks. United 
with the Longobards, they suddenly attacked and destroyed 
the Gepidae, in Pannonia( 122), and when the Lombards, in 568, 
marched off for the conquest of Italy, they occupied per- 
manently the fertile and beautiful lands of Noricum, Panno- 
nia, and all Dacia. Their southern frontier was the Danube, 
the Euxine Sea, and the western Caucasus. On the east, 
they touched the Volga, on the northeast they reached to 
modern Moskow, and along the Carpathian range their western 
border ran down the Elbe, from Magdeburg to Bohemia, 
including the portion of Austria, east of the Ens, and followed 
then south, along the Friulian Alps, the river Save to its junction 
with the Danube. They were a mighty nation, who during the 
seventh and eighth centuries kept Europe in continual fear. Many 
Sclavonian tribes were subdued by the Avars ; others fled before 
them, and forcing their way across the Danube, inundated Thrace, 
and settled in northern Greece and the peninsula of tiie Morea 
(196). In a subsequent period, however, when the Bulgarians, 
under their leader, Kuvrat, recovered from their lethargy, and 
defeated the Avars in the east, and the inhuman cruelty of 
the latter brought the Bohemians in their despair to throw 
off the yoke, then the Avaric power began to sink. In order 



to secure themselves against the Franks, they had transformed 
the finest provinces of southern Germany to a desert, where 
dense forests arose, which separated Bavaria from Avaria. i 
The more to secure their position on the Danube, they sup- 
ported the rebellious Duke Thassilon of Bavaria, against Char- 
lemagne ; but the Prankish armies invaded their country in 
791, and after several destructive campaigns, Prince Pepin 
subdued all western Avaria as far as the river Raab and the 
Danube, and forced the defeated Tartars to become Christians. 
Several times they rose in rebellion, but in 803 the heavy 
sword of Charlemagne smote them with such effect, that the 
Avaric nation vanishes from history, and only the eastern 
tribes found refuge on Mount Caucasus, where they still, to 
this day, form a warlike race under the name of Awars or 
Uars, and their Khan is the most powerful among the Les-y 
gian chieftains. 

The Avars, being nomades, had no cities, but strongly for- 
tified camps. Their capital was the Ringus, or fortified cir- 
cular camp at Buda-Pesth in Pannonia, where the Franks 
made an immense booty of the plundered treasures of so many 
vanquished nations. The Avars were the most talented and 
ingenious of the eastern tribes ; they were tall, handsome, and 
excellent archers. They fought in complete armor ; their 
steeds were barbed with chain mail, and the equipment of the 
Avar horsemen was adopted by the Byzantine Greeks, as were 
their long lances, with colored flags. They learned from the 
Greeks to conduct regular sieges, to throw bridges ; but they 
showed such savage cruelty against their vanquished subjects, 
that their name, Obi'i in the Russian, got the signification of 
" horrible monster," as the Boiigre (Bulgar), in French, and the 
Hime (Hun), in German. The Avars were a brave and war- 
like people, but faithless, perfidious, and avaricious. From 
wild nomades, they became cunning tradesmen, who with their'.' 
caravans, carried the oriental and Grecian wares and costly 
manufactures to the markets of Germany, where they made 
plenty of money, which they hoarded within the wooden walls 
of the Ringus, on the Danube, and it was then a common say- 
ing among the Franks, that before the conquest of Avaria the 
Franks had been a poor people, but that afterwards, the pre- 
cious metals found there had made them more wealthy than 
any other nation in Europe. 

150. Germany was thus divided between the Franks and 
the Avars. Among the independent Saxons, the Scandina- 
vians, the Finns, and Northern Sclavonians, no remarkable 
changes took place during that period. 

^ III. Southern Europe. 

151. Spanish Peninsula. — The only change which here 1 
attracts our attention is the extinction of the Suevian king- \ 
dom in 585, and the progressive amalgamation of the different 
races which already began to speak the Spanish language, a ( 
mixture of Latin and Gothic. The only troubles there were .3 
caused by the ambition of the princes to succeed to the throne, 
and the arrogant bearing of the prelates, who, during the le- 
thargic sloth of the Visigothic kings and nobility had made 
the ecclesiastic influence paramount in the realm. 

152. Kingdom of the Lombards. — The Ostrogothic em- 
pire was destroyed by Belisarius and Narses, in the middle of 
the 6th century. In 568, Alboin crossed the Alps, with an im- 
mense army of Longobards, Saxons, and other German aux- 
iliaries. He occupied Northern Italy, which henceforth took 
the name of Lombardy, and his successors extended their 
sway through the interior as far as Beneventum in the south. 
Yet the Lombards were unable to conquer the coast, where the 
well-fortified cities were supported by the fleets from Constan- 



THIED PERIOD.— LOMBARDS— GREEKS. FOURTH PERIOD.— FRANKS. 



39 



% 



tinople, and thus their kingdom remained without coasolida- 
tion, and exposed to attacks on every side except the north. 
The Lombard kingdom was divided into six larger provinces, 
containing thirty-six diicatiis (duchies), which were governed 
by dukes, who, in the course of time succeeded in becoming 
abuost entirely independent. 

I. Austria (now the Venetian territory) with the larger 
Duchies of TmnKNTUin (Trident), Fortjm Julii (Friuli), and 
Venetia or Austria Regni, which again comprised a number 
of smaller duchies, Tarvisium (Treviso), Vincentia (Vicenza), 
Patavium (Padua), &c. 

II. Neustria (now Piedmont and Milan), was separated 
from Austria by the Mincius (Mincio), and the Laciis Bena- 
cus (Lago di Garda), with the duchies of Eboreja (Ivrea), 
Taurinum (Turin), and Neustria Regni, in which was the cap- 
ital of the kingdom, Papia, or Ticinum (now Pavia), on the 
Ticinus. Smaller duchies were those of Bergoinum (Bergamo), 
Brixia (Brescia), Mediolanum (Milan), and Insula St. Julii, 
on the small lake of Orta. 

III. Emilia, south of the Padus (Po), comprised the 
small duchies Placentia (Piacenza), VviXTa.&,Regivm (Reggio), 
and Mutina (Modena). 

IV. TusciA (Toscana), divided into, 1, Tuscia Regni, 
with the duchies Liica (Lucca), Florentia (Florence), and 
Clusiuni (Chiuso) ; and 2, Tuscia Langobardorum with the 
duchy of Castrum. Separated from these territories, were 
for a length of time the southern conquests of the king- 
dom. 

V. The duchy of Spoletum (Spoleto), with the city of 
eate. 

VI. The duchy of Beneventum, with the gastaldates, 
or jurisdictions of Capua, Bnvianum, Teate, and smaller 
territories. Pavia had made a most obstinate resistance dur- 
ing a siege of three years. Alboin made it the capital of the 
kingdom. Milan had arisen from its ashes, and was again 
one of the most populous and important cities. Verona, the 
strong fortress on the Adige, where Alboin was assassinated 
by his revengeful wife Rosamund. Monza, near Milan, with 
the celebrated cathedral and monastery of Queen Teudelinda, 
where the kings were inaugurated with the iron crown of Lom- 
bardy. King Rotharis gave in 644, the Lombard code. All 
Lombards were nobles, Arimanni, or warriors; under the 
dukes stood the judges, or Gastaldi ; free Lombards were 
empanelled as jurymen, to judge their equals ; capital punish- 
ment was inflicted only for treachery, conspiracy, and cowardice. 
Judicial duels, and ordeals by fire and water were permitted. 
Woman enjoyed the highest honor, protection,^ '^ nay, even chi- 
valrous adoration. The king was only the leader of the feu- 
dal army ; the assembly of dukes decided all political ques- 
tions. The native Romans were treated with unheard of cru- 
elty ; yet the Lombards did not take themselves the landed 
property ; they exacted one-third part of the revenue. The 
tributes and taxes of the cities were heavy, but tl^e citizens 
personally free. The Lombards, as Arian heretics, clad in 
skins, had terrified the Romans; yet the natural chivalrous 
character of the old Northmen soon took a polish and elegance 

" See the laws of king Rotharis : elopement with .a Lombard bride 
without the consent of the bridegroom, was punished with 1800 solidi, 
or gold pieces {Roth. Legg. 191), while the murder of a Lombard ariman or 
noble, could be atoned with only 900 solidi; nay, the taking a single kiss 
of a Lombard virgin without her permission, was punished with 900 
solidi as compensation to the injured fair one, while a worse hai-m done 
to her Roman maid-servant, was atoned with only three solidi, and the 
breaking into her fathei-'s house by open robbery, with 80 solidi {Roth. 
Legg-, 14, 16, 26, 31, 32). The Lombards, like the Danes, compensated 
every injury on man or beast, whether premeditated or accidental, with 
ready money. (See the liighly interesting details in Professor Leo's Ge- 
xrMehte der ItaUenischcn Staaten. Hambursj, 1829, vol. i., p. 114 et seq. 



superior to that of the Goths and Franks. The Lombards 
were excellent horsemen ; they established studs of an im- 
proved race of war-steeds, on the meadows of the Venetian 
coast ; they introduced the buffalo from India, and carried 
to perfection the art of falconry. Yet they never succeeded 
in conquering Rome, and the hostility with the Popes and the 
maritime cities, contributed to rouse the patriotism of the Ita- 
lians, and to promote the development of the Italian republics 
of later times. ' 

153. The Byzantine or Eastern Roman Empire. — The 
conquest of Italy by the Lombards, deprived the Eastern Em- 
pire of some of the acquisitions which it had made in Italy dur- 
ing the reign of Justinian I. ; yet it still possessed the follow- 
ing provinces, toward the close of the 6th century. 

1. The Exarchate, which had its name from its governor, 
the Exarck ('EtaQyog), whom the Greek emperor sent over 
to administer the imperial possessions of Italy. He resided 
in Ravenna (42), and had a Greek fleet and troops at his dis- 
posal for the defence of the province. The exarchate consisted 
of Padua, Adria, Ferrara, Commacchio, Bologna, Imola, Fa- 
enza, Forli, Cesena, and the maritime province called Penta- 
polis, because it consisted of the five cities of Rimini, Pesaro, 
Fano, Sinigaglia, and Ancona. Venice, situated at four miles 
distance from the mainland in her lagoons, began already to 
rise in power and wealth, and though governed almost inde- 
pendently by her military tribunes, was still considered as a 
dependence of the Greek Empire. 

2. The province of the Cottian Alps (51), embraced at 
this period the whole range of the Maritime Alps and of 
the Apennines, on the fertile coast of Liguria, with the city 
of Janua (Genoa), which had already become a thriving com- 
mercial port. 

3. The Duchy of Romc, extending from Perugia on the 
north, to Gaeta on the south, was governed by a military duke, 
though both the Bishop (Pope) of the Roman See, and the se- 
nate of ancient noble families exercised a great influence, and 
often opposed the despotic measures of the distant and weak 
Byzantine Government. 

4. The Duchy' of Naples was divided into two parts, by in- 
tervening Lombard territories. On the north, the beautiful 
city of Neapolis (Naples), with Sorrento, Puteoli (Pozzuoli), 
and the thriving commercial town of Amalfi, on the Salernitan 
gulf, and on the south, Calabria, with the strongly forti- 
fied and important city of Tarentum (Taranto). Sicily, with 
its capital, Syracuse, Sardinia, Corsica, and the Balearic 
islands, belonged likewise to the Eastern Empire. 



CHAPTER y. 
EUROPE. 

WESTERN AND CENTRAL ASIA AND NORTHERN AFRICA ; 
THEIR POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY DURING THE REIGNS 
OF CHARLEMAGNE (a D. 768-814), AND OF HAROUN 
AR RASCHID, THE ABBASIDE CALIPH OF BAGDAD (a. 

D. 786-809). 

L EMPIRE OF CHARLEMAGNE. 

§ I. Extent of the Dominions of the Franks on the 
Death of Pepin-le-Bref, a. d. 768. 

154. General Remarks. — Great changes have taken place 
in the Prankish empire since the union of the three kingdoms 



40 



FOURTH PERIOD.— EMPIRE OF CHARLEMAGNE. 



of Neustria, Austrasia, and Burgundy, first under Clilotaire II. 
in 613, and then a second time under king Dagobert in 628. 
The successors of the latter, the idle ov faineans kings of the 
Merovingian race, had given place, in 752, to Pepin-le-Bref, 
the founder of the second dynasty — the Carlovingians. The 
main causes of the downfall of the royal authority in France 
were the impolitic and detrimental divisions of the empire among 
the royal princes, the feuds and disorders which they occasion- 
ed and the growing influence of the able and active mayors of 
the palace (118). By the new division of the states, on the 
death of Dagobert in 638, among his sons, every one of the 
petty kingdoms obtained its own Mayor Domus, which increas- 
ed the confusion ; nay, the relations between these military 
chiefs became the more hostile, the more the different nation- 
alities of German Franks or Austrasians (Eastlanders), Roman 
Fraiiks or Neustrians (Westlanders), and Gallo-Romans, or 
Aquitanians, developed themselves in language, character, and 
manners. In 687itcametoacivil war between theNeustriausand 
Austrasians and their warlike mayors. Pepin of Heristal and his 
Austrasians, gained the bloodybattle at Testri against the Neu- 
strians, in consequence of which he was chosen to rule over all 
the kingdoms as Duke and Prince of the Franks, and established 
the permanent seat of the executive power at Aix la Chapelle in 
Austrasia. The son of Pepin, Charles Martel (the Hammer), 
consolidated still more the new hereditary power of the Mayor 
Domus by his victories over the Saxons, Frisians, and Arabs 
from Spain, at Tours in 732; and so great was the influence 
of Pepin-le-Bref, the son of Charles Martel, that, with the 
sanction of clergy and nobility, and the assistance of the Pope 
of Rome, he could put the last miserable Merovingian king 
into a convent, and mount the throne of Austrasia and Neustria 
in 752. Aquitaine, Saxony, and Bavaria, which had recovered 
their independence during the troubles, are invaded by Pepin 
and partly reduced to obedience, when he divides his states be- 
tween his two sons, Carloman and Charles, before his death in 
768. 

155. Limits. — The Prankish state was bounded on the 
north and northwest by the Channel and the Atlantic ; on the 
south by the Loire, the mountain chain of the Cevennes and the 
Gulf of Lions on the Mediterranean.^ ^ On the side of Italy the 
Franks had extended their empire to the highest range of the 
Alps, in which two important passes were situated, which are 
often mentioned in the chronicles of those times : " Tlie 
Franks'' Narrows'''' — Clusce, Francorum — now the passage of 
the little Saint Bernard, which opens upon the valley of Aosta 
— Vallis Augustana — and the other defile, more south, called 
the Segusian Valley — Vallis Segusiana or Vallis Sensana — 
is the defile of Susa on Mount Cenis, which King Desiderius 
had fortified in vain, in 774, against Charlemagne, who boldly 
crossing over by the steeper mountain paths, took the Lombard 
camp in the flank and defeated them totally in the plain of Pavia. 
Beyond the Rhine the Prankish territory extended eastward 
to the river Saale, where it bordered on the Saxons, Sorabians, 
and Bohemians, and ran south to the Danube and along the 
Anisus (Ens) to the Alps, thus comprising Bavaria, which, how- 
ever, was more tributary than subdued. On the northeast, 
the countries beyond the Rhine, and north of the Thuringian 
mountains. Saxony, and the coast-lands of the Frisians, though 
often invaded by the Franks, were still independent. 

156. Division made by Pepin between his Sons.' — Carlo- 
man, the elder, got Neustria, Burgundy, with Septimania, 
Provence, Alsace, and Alemannia, that is, western and southern 
France. Charles, the younger son, received Austrasia with 

" During tlie middle ages it was styled the sea, or gulf of the Lion, 
because, from the frequency of tempests, it was formidable to mariners. 
To write gulf of Lyons is incorrect. 



Thuringia, Souabia, Bavaria, and those portions of western 
Saxony and Frisia which were considered as belonging to the 
empire. Aquitania, then almost independent,^^ was divided 
in equal parts between both brothers. From this somewhat 
unsatisfactory account of Eginhard, we discover, however, 
the insecurity of the frontiers, and the loose connection of the 
states among themselves.''^ What a work was there on hand for 
such a genius as Charlemagne ! 

I. Kingdom of Neustria. 

157. I. Neustria Proper, between the Atlantic, the 
Channel, the Mosa, and the Loire, extended southeast to Bur- 
gundy ; and being the earliest conquest of the Prankish nation, 
it was thickly settled by them and the centre of their power. 
Yet the western peninsula, Britannia (Bretagne) — Brittany — 
called likewise Armorica (70), and Cornu Gallice^ answering 
to the similar name Cornouailles (Cornwall), of the opposite 
coast in the British island, was inhabited by the pure old 
Celtic race, as different from the Roman inhabitants of Gaul, 
as from their conquerors the Franks. The Britons had, un- 
til the death of Pepin-the-Short, preserved their manners, 
language, particular laws, and native princes ; and the 
French chroniclers of the times distinctly record that it was 
Charlemagne who first carried the Prankish arms into that 
country. Some of the frontier towns, however, such as Nam- 
netes (Nantes), on the Loire, Redones (Rennes), a:nd Aletum 
(Saint Male), had already been occupied by the Merovingian 
kings, and later by Pepin. 

II. BuRGUNDiA (Bourgogne, Burgundy), on the southeast 
of Neustria, between the Loire, the Cevennes, and the Alps, 
and bordering south on Provence, was at this period the most 
flourishing portion of the empire, both on account of the in- 
dustry and activity of the inhabitants, and because the devastat- 
ing incursions of the Arabs from Spain had hardly touched its 
frontiers. 

III. Septimania, southwest of Burgundy, extended along 
the coast of the Balearic sea, or Gallic gulf — Sinus Gallicus — 
as the gulf of Lions was then called. This beautiful province 
had never been completely reduced by the Merovingians, and 
was soon re-conquered by the Mohammedans. It remained in 
their power until the Gothic count, Ansemandus, surrendered 
several cities — Nimes, Maguelonne, and Beziers — to Pepin, 
who already had crossed the frontiers. Narbonne, rising in 
rebellion, slaughtered the Mussulman garrison and opened her 
gates to the Prankish prince. Thus encouraged, the Franks 
boldly entered the Pyrenees, and it is related that the Saracen 
Wali of Girona and Barcelona did homage to Pepin, although 
a mere show of obeisance could not have been a real sub- 
mission. 

158. Provincia (Provence), south of Burgundy, on both 
banks of the Druentia (Durance), had been overrun by the 
Arabs, but Charles Martel defeated them there in a. d. 739, 
and the province was henceforth governed by Prankish officers. 

159. V. Alesatia or Alesacis (Alsace), northeast of Bur- 
gundy, between Mount Vogesus and the Rhine, though in- 
closed within Austrasia, belonged to Carloman. It was the 
first conquest of Clovis from the Alemanni, and was afterwards 
incorporated into the province of Eastern France (Franconia), 
beyond the Rhine. 

160. VI. Alemannia or Alamania, southeast of Alsace, 
on the right bank of the Rhine, embraced the southern part 
of Souabia and Switzerland, and extended to the foot of the 
Alps. A small portion of northern Souabia seems to have 

^' Aquitania was in a state of insurrection, and Charlemagne began 
his reign with its complete reduction. 
■"^ In his life of Charlemagne. 



FOURTH PERIOD.— EMPIRE OF CHARLEMAGNE. 



41 



belonged to Aiistrasia ; the Franks were unable scientifically 
to adjust political divisions of territory. After the de- 
feat of their duke, Leutfried, in 748, the Alemanni were 
deprived of their native sovereigns, and governed by Prankish 
counts under the supervision of royal commissaries (missi 
dominici). 

161. VII. BojoARiA (Bavaria), on the east of Alemannia, 
from which it was separated by the river Lichus (Lech), ex- 
tended between the Danube and the Alps, eastward to the 
Anisus (Ens), where it bordered on the empire of the Avars. 
The Bavarians, though several times defeated by Pepin, who 
had penetrated into their country so far as the ^nus (Inn), 
preserved still their native dukes and their national habits, 
but they did homage to the Prankish kings, followed their 
banner, and paid a yearly tribute. Bavaria did not yet form 
an integral part of the empire, and is not mentioned in the 
division made by Pepin between his sons. 



II. Kingdom of Austrasia. 

162. Pepin gave Austrasia to his second son, Charles. It 
was by far smaller than Neustria, but it was nevertheless the 
principal portion of the empire, and in assigning it to his 
youngest and most talented son, Pepin manifested the pre- 
dilection he felt for him. Austrasia was the cradle of the 
Prankish nation ; it was the old homestead of those brave 
degene (thanes, chiefs), and leiides (warriors), who formed the 
feudal armies of the Franks. There, too, was the stronghold of 
the new dynasty in the hereditary castles of Landen and He- 
ristal^ on the Mosa, surrounded by the estates of the faith- 
ful retainers of the family of Pepin — and finally, it was on 
this exposed frontier that all the assaults of the Germanic, Scla- 
vonian, and Tartaric nations were to be opposed, sword in 
hand, if the western civilization should not be entirely over, 
whelmed by new inundations of the barbarous hordes from the 
east. Great was therefore the responsibility that rested on 
young king Charles, but he had the head, heart, and hand, re- 
quisite for the mighty task which his father had imposed upon 
him. 

These remarks are important in order to understand the 
political and social change of manners, ideas, and language 
which already separated the two leading parts of the Prankish 
nation — the Neustrians and Austrasians — at the time of 
Charlemagne. All earlier French writers speak of that great 
ruler as if he were a Frenchman, a Louis XIV., an absolute 
monarch of France, while the more profound modern historians, 
Guizot and Thierry, distinctly prove that /far/ the Gh'eat and 
his Austrasians were genuine Germans, speaking the old Ger- 
man mother-tongue, and still preserving the habits and man- 
ners of the Tudesque race. The Neustrians, west of the 
Mosa, on the contrary, had already so far adopted the lan- 
guage and customs of the native Romans, that they appear as 
Frenchmen one century later, at the battle of Fontenay and 
the treaty of Verdun in 843, where, at the division of the Em- 
pire, the act of allegiance of the armies is rendered both in 
the French and the German language.^ ^ 

163. VIII. Austrasia Propria — Auster — extended on 
both banks of the Rhine from the Mosa, which separated it 
from Neustria on the west, to the Yisurgis or Wissera (We- 
ser), that formed the eastern frontier line toward Thuringia, and 
the Sclavonian nations on the Elbe. The portion of this pro- 
vince, lying between the Moselle on the west, the Rhine and 

^' See the interesting details on Charlemagne, the ancient 
Franks, and the division of the Carlovingian empire, in Augustin 
Thieri-ys Lettres sur I'Histoire de France, Lettre I.-XIL, and in Guizot's 
Histoire de la Civilization en France, Le9on3 XX — XXV. 

6 



the Mayn on the north, and the Risga (Rechnitz), a tributary 
of the Mayn, on the east, formed what at that time began to 
be called Francia, France, and was under the Carlovingians 
considered as the cradle of the monarchy. It was in itself 
subdivided into West Reich, or the Western Kingdom, on the 
left bank of the Rhine, comprising Alsace, and Ost Reich, or the 
Eastern Kingdom, on the right bank of that river, the present 
Franconia in Bavaria. All the ancient Roman cities on the 
Rhine (71, 109) had been rebuilt, and were now flourishing; 
the hills on the banks of the river were covered with vineyards, 
and the numerous country-seats of the kings and their feudal 
retainers, presented the boisterous life and gaudy pomp of 
those barbarous times. 

164. IX. Thuringia or Thoringia (Thiiringen), between 
the Weser, which separated it from Austrasia on the west, and 
the Saale, which on the east formed the utmost frontier of the 
empire, against the Sorabians, and other Sclavonian tribes. 
After the conquest of this beautiful country by the sons of 
Clovis in 532 (120), it was considered as an integral part of 
their dominions, but during the downfall of the royal author- 
ity of the Merovingians, and the feudal wars of the Mayores 
Domus in the west, the Thuringians succeeded in rendering 
themselves independent. They placed their native dukes at 
the head of the government, and bravely defeated the Franks in 
the great battle on the river JJnstrut. Pepin-the-Short was 
therefore obliged to turn his arms against them, and this he 
did so effectually, that all Thuringia had been completely sub- 
dued and christianized at the time when Charlemagne mounted 
the Austrasian throne. 

165. X. Saxonia, Saxony, on the north of Austrasia and 
Thuringia. The indomitable Saxons, with their heavy short 
swords-; — saxen — still preserved their independence, in spite 
of the five fatiguing campaigns of Pepin, until at last the Franks 
advanced on the Weser, and imposed a yearly tribute of three 
hundred horses on the Saxons, which they took no care to pay. 
Nor did they keep their engagement to permit the Irish and 
British missionaries to prosecute their pious work of conver- 
sion among them ; and many were the zealous and devoted 
monks, who, in the Saxon forests, gained the crown of 
martyrdom. 

166. XL Frisia (Holland and Friesland), on the north- 
west of Saxony, was separated from Neustria by the lower 
Rhine, and extended eastward to the Weser. The Frisians made 
the most desperate efforts to preserve their independence in their 
low, swampy coast-lands, and Pepin of Heristal did not suc- 
ceed in subduing them entirely, during eight fatiguing cam- 
paigns, for they soon threw off the Prankish yoke again, and 
even the great power of Pepin-the-Short did not restrain them 
from slaughtering the pious Saint Boniface (Winfried), the 
archbishop of Mayence, who, in 755, had dared with cross and 
Christian banner to enter their wilderness, in order to spread 
the light of Christianity among them. 

1^ II. The Western Empire at the Death of Charle- 
magne, a. d. 814. 

167. On the premature death of Karloman in 771, the 
Neustrian Franks placed Karl on the buckler, as their Konig 
and Herzog (79), instead of the helpless children of Karlo- 
man. Karl accepted and hailed this propitious union, as the 
beginning and corner-stone of the magnificent building he was 
going to erect. Charlemagne is the greatest reformer of the 
Middle Ages. Society was then in a ferment : barbarism and 
civilization were in the most violent contest with each other, 
and the latter could only gain the victory by violent means. 
Providence sends forth mighty individuals, who are destined 
to lead an entire age with giant steps forward in its develop* 



42 



FOURTH PEEIOD.— EMPIRE OF CHARLEMAGNE. 



ment, and farnislaes them with vigor of intellect and strength 
of will to accomplish their arduous task. Such is Charle- 
magne ; he does not follow the beaten track, and while he 
fixes his eye steadfastly on the distant glittering summit of 
the mountain, many a flower is crushed beneath his foot. He 
is a terrible warrior, who for forty-five years leads his immense 
armies from one frontier of his empire to the other, in constant 
warfare. The Aquitanians in southwestern France, the Lom- 
bards in Italy, the Saxons on the Weser and Elbe, the Danes 
on the Eider, the Sclavonians on the eastern frontiers, the 
Avars on the Danube and the Raab, and the Saracens beyond 
the Pyrenees, are either repelled or prostrated and subdued by 
dint of his sword. He succeeds in giving Europe an entirely 
diiferent, a better regulated and organized form. At Rome 
he takes the imperial crown in a. d. 800, and thus revives a 
modern Romano-Grermanic empire, that stood the storms of 
a thousand years, until it at last perished on the battle-field of 
Austerlitzin 1805. In all his campaigns Charlemagne showed 
himself an able general ; his tactical movements were as ad- 
mirable as the rapidity with which he knew how to assemble and 
lead on his unwieldy masses of feudal warriors. His heer-ban or 
feudal militia consisted of troops from various nations, differently 
armed and equipped, but kept together by the most severe 
discipline, which could only be enforced by a mind like that 
of Charles. His leudes furnished their own arms, horses and 
provisions for three months ; to facilitate their march through 
the empire, military roads were opened under the supervision 
of the active emperor himself His fleets protected the mouths 
of the rivers. He was obeyed and feared from the Eider to 
the Liris, from the Ebro in Spain, to the Theiss in Avaria. 
We know little in relation to the organization of the Prankish 
armies. Cavalry is never mentioned, though we can hardly 
doubt that the greater part of his feudal vassals served on 
horseback. The age of chivalry had not yet arrived, and what 
the moderns write about the twelve peers or paladins of Charle- 
magne, of his tournaments and knightly pomp and pageantry, 
belongs to fiction and romance. Yet Charles did not rely only 
on his lieei'-ban, or his liegemen bound to military service ; he 
had another body of select troops, called sca?-a, schaar, bands, 
or paid household troops, who served throughout the cam- 
paigns, and among them were distributed the royal fiefs of 
Italy. They may therefore be considered as the first nobles who 
introduced the Prankish feudality into the lands south of the 
Alps. Having thus secured peace and obedience throughout 
the western world, he dedicated the last ten years (804-814) 
of his long reign (768-814) to the internal organization and 
development of his empire, and here we behold him in his real 
glory. It would be impossible to give an account of the nu- 
merous cities, fortresses, churches, schools, bridges, high roads, 
and even canals, and other public buildings and monuments, 
which he caused to be erected in every part of his dominions ; he 
fully recognized the different nationalities, Franks, Grermans, 
Lombards, Tartars,, Sclavonians, Greeks, and Arabs, who lived 
peaceably under his protection. In his diets on the Rhine, 
the clergy, high nobility, and the mass of the freemen (leudes), 
assembled in a meadow on the banks of the river, where they 
were marshalled according to their rank around the throne of 
the great Emperor. Foreign ambassadors from every part of 
the world were there received, their presents graciously ac- 
cepted, and hospitality offered on a scale which had not been 
witnessed since the downfall of the ancient Roman empire. 
The comprehensive mind of Charles embraced the most distant 
portion of his empire ; nay, even the minute detail of income 
and expense on the farms of his imperial domains. His capi- 
tularia or laws were discussed in the diets, and imperial offi- 
hurried off in all directions to superintend their 
The administration of the empire was simple in the 



cers were 
execution. 



extreme, and based on earlier Prankish institutions. Charles 
feared and hated the proud Dukes of Aquitania, Bavaria, and 
Lombardy ; he dissolved all the duchies, abolished their titles, 
and divided the whole empire into counties — pagi or grafen- 
gauen — at the command of which stood a count or graf^ 
uniting the functions of judge and military commander. The 
graf enjoyed his fief only for his lifetime ;^ ' his sons had no here- 
ditary rights ; their election depended on the choice of the 
monarch. Yet in order to keep the most vigilant control over 
the counts and their jurisdiction in the counties, Charles em- 
ployed his important and faithful envoys^ or missi dominici, 
who were chosen from among the most experienced and virtuous 
prelates and laymen ; they were in continual movement from 
one province to another, and woe to the negligent ofiicial ; 
for Charles himself, like the lightning from the clouds, would 
immedately appear and his look was then withering. The ca- 
pitulars of Charlemagne (still extant) are 300, and the whole 
collection of those of his successors more than SOOO^all curi- 
ously illustrating the simple and rude manners of the ninth 
century. 

168. Extent of the Fp^ontiees. — Such was the state 
of the Carlovingian empire. The fifty years which separate 
the death of Charlemagne from that of Pepin-le-Bref, had con- 
siderably extended the dominion of the Franks. The new Ro- 
man empire of Charlemagne had almost as vast an extent as 
the ancient, with the exception, however, of Spain, Africa, and 
the island of Britain ; but it embraced many lands in central 
Germany, which furnished him with stouter warriors than the 
more civilized Roman provinces. If within the bounds of 
the empire we reckon the tributary nations who were not directly 
subjected to his Prankish government, the empire had on the 
west, the Atlantic ; on the south, the lower Ebro in Spain and the 
Mediterranean. On the coast of Italy it extended to the environs 
of Gaeta, an important city belonging to the Byzantine empire ; 
and then to the Liris (now Garigliano), which separated it from 
the Duchy of Beneventum. The powerful chief of the latter 
ruled in the greater part of lower Italy, and recognized the su- 
premacy of Charles, without being his subject. The posses- 
sions of Charles embraced besides, all the coast of the Adriatic, 
from the mouth of the river Aternus (Pescara), in eastern 
Italy, around the gulf of Venice, as far as Rhausium (now Ra- 
gusa), or even beyond that ; which, however, together with 
Jadera (now Zara on the island), Tragarhim (now Trau), 
As]pcdatlios (Spalatro), and some other smaller ports, belonged 
to the Byzantine Greeks (139). On the east, the frontiers of the 
empire ran along the Dalmatian mountains to the river Bosna, 
a tributai'y of the Save, and followed that river to its junction 
with the Danube and the Theiss ; along this latter river the 
border ascended the Carpathian ridge, crossed westward to 
Bohemia, and along the course of the Oder — or as Eginhard 
says, in his life of Charlemagne, along the Vistula it touched 
the Baltic, the Eider, and the German Ocean. This immense 
extent of compact territory had 300 leagues or 900 miles in 
length from north to south, and 420 leagues in breadth from 
west to east. 

169. We have given the utmost extent of the Carlovingian 
empire as far as the sword of Charlemagne did reach ; and in 
the map this border is indicated by the light green line, leaving, 
however, the national color to the tributary nations who did not 
directly come within the Prankish administration. The subject 
provinces of the empire, in which the imperial administration had 
been thoroughly established, we have colored with a deeper 
green, to distinguish it from that of the merely tributary 
countries of the Sclavonic and Tartaric tribes on the eastern 
frontiers. 

^^ The Count was called Pfalz Graf or Count Palatine, if lie resided 
in anjr of the many royal mansions or castles called Pfalz. 



FOURTH PEEIQD.— EMPIRE OF CHARLEMAGNE. 



43 



A. — Provinces of the Empire. 

170. Different Divisions. — The great fundamental 
change undertaken by Charlemagne, was the dissolution of the 
duchies and the subdivision of the ancient provinces into the 
above-mentioned pagi — counties — gheves ovgmcen, which again 
were subdivided into centena (hundreds), marken (communes), 
and manses (manors), all with their corresponding officials and 
their military service — heerhan. This division of the pagi, 
which extended throughout "G-ermany and France, is of the 
highest importance, because it was the Gaugrafen or judicial 
counts, who, during the stibsequent period of the dissolution 
of the Empire, by obtaining the hereditai-y rights of their fiefs, 
and joining these to their allodia or proper estates, con- 
stituted that feudal nobility which, in the tenth century, 
broke up the institution of the pagi — gauverfa.asung — and 
formed their baronial territories on its ruins.^^ Charle- 
magne never intrusted an ordinary official with more than one 
county ; an exception was made however with regard to the bor- 
der Counts, who were called Duces limitis, and sometimes pos- 
sessed extended powers. In cases of sudden insurrection, 
Dukes were nominated to quell the rebellion. The Bishops be- 
gan likewise to obtain worldly influence by being placed as civil 
officials side by side with the military Counts, or as Missi 
Dominici above them ; yet they did not yet appear armed in 
the field until the downfall of the Empire.^ ^ It was by this 
minute organization of his gigantic empire, that Charlemagne 
was enabled to investigate the real wants of his subjects, or the 
neglect or incapacity of his counts. Temporary and change- 
able divisions were those of the legations — legationcs — and the 
imperial messages — missatica. The Church was likewise 
divided into archbishoprics (provinces), bishoprics (dioceses), 
archdeaconries, &c., &c. ; these only are known with accuracy ; 
the pagi we know only in general from the capitularia. 

171. Austrasia still retained its ancient frontiers, 
which were rendered secure by border counties on the Elbe 
and Danube. It had become a flourishing country under 
Charlemagne, with rich and thriving cities. Westward of 
the Rhine was situated Aquisgranum — Aqua Grani — • 
(Achen or Aix-la-Chapelle), built during the reign of the Em- 
peror Hadrian by a Roman governor called Granus, who gave 
his name to the hot springs and the city. Charlemagne 
making it his favorite residence, erected there the Cathedral 
of Saint Mary, in which he was buried. His palace joined 
the church by a wooden gallery; many public buildings 
with marbles and sculptures from Italy, adorned the city. 
Mettis (Metz), southeast of Aix, on the Moselle, was the for- 
mer capital of Austrasia, which now saw its splendor darkened 
by the new favorite. Duilia (Duren), on the Rhine, was often 
the general place of rendezvous for the feudal armies of the 
Franks during the Saxon wars. Landen, the ancestral castle 
of the Carlovingians, west of the Mosa. Heristal (Herstal), 
on that river, the estate and residence of the elder Pepin, who 
there had built a strong fortress, where his successors often re- 
sided. Treves (Treviri), rebuilt and flourishing. Magon- 
TiA (Mayence), opposite to the junction of the Mayn with the 
Rhine, across which Charlemagne threw a wooden bridge on 
stone pillars. Saint Boniface, the Archbishop of Mayence, left 

''" Some regions in Germany still retain the names of the ancient 
Gauen ; for instance, Breisgau on the Rhine, Aargau in Switzerland, and 
others. See the beautiful maps No. 12, 13, 15, 16 in the great collec- 
tion of Historical Maps by Charles Spruner. Gotha, 1839-52. 

"" See the 4th Capitular of Charlemagne, a. d. 806, chap. 4th : Epis- 
copi cum comitibus stent, et Comites cum episcopis, ut uterque plenit6r 
suum ministeriiim peragere possit. 



his see to find martyrdom among the savage Frisians (166). 
Ingelheim, on the Rhine, surrounded by a splendid scenery of 
mount and dale, was likewise a favorite residence of Charle- 
magne, where he built a noble palace and called together the 
yearly diets of his states ; there, too, in 788, Thassilon, the 
duke of Bavaria, was condemned as a faithless vassal to lose 
his duchy, and expiate his treachery in the gloomy exile of the 
convent. Theodonis Villa (Thionville), on the Moselle, where 
Charlemagne, in 806, divided his states between his sons. 
Wormatia (Worms), another favorite place of the Emperor, 
where he had a fine palace, and held frequently his Mayfield 
assemblies. 

172. Interesting cities, on the east of the Rhine, were 
Franconofurt (Frankfort), on the Mayn, Wurtzburg, on 
the same river, where Charlemagne began the canal, which 
was intended to unite the Rhine with the Danube, by di- 
recting the course of the Regnitz into the Alt.muhl, 
which discharges itself into the Danube. Yet the difficulties 
of cutting through the intervening morasses, and the renewal 
of the Saxon war, forced the enterprising monarch to abandon 
this useful work. 

173. Fkisia, whose inhabitants, stubborn as they were, 
yielded like the Saxons to the civilizing sword of the Emperor, 
and made as rapid progress as they. The demolition of the new 
built Christian church at Derventer on the Yssel, in 772, was the 
signal for the bloody war of Charlemagne against the Saxons. 

Saxonia (Saxony) had been christianized and subdued, 
after a terribly protracted struggle of thirty-three years (771- 
804). It had lost great part of its population, been devas- 
tated and plundered ; but it rose by the energy of its people, 
and the beneficial influence of Christianity and civilization, to 
become the strongest and best organized state of Germany. The 
Saxons, at the time of the war with Charlemagne, were divided 
into three great tribes, the Westphali ( Westjjhalia^is), on the 
west, between the Amisia (Ems), and the Visurgis (We- 
ser) ; Ostfhali (or Ostjjhalians), between the Weser and the 
Elbe, and the Angarii (or Angarians), in the southwest. 
North of the Elbe, toward the frontiers of Denmark, on the 
Eidora (Eyder), lived the Norlendi (or Nordalbingians), 
in Wooden Saxony, Holzatia (Holstein). Celebrated places 
were — 

174. BociiOLT (Buchholz), on the junction of the Luppe 
and the Rhine, where the Saxons sufl'ered a defeat in 779. 
SiGiBUEG, a strong fortress which Charlemagne held garrisoned. 
Badenfeld, where the brave Wittikind was defeated by the 
Franks. Eresburg (Stadtbergen), north of Badenfeld, the 
first fortress Charlemagne took and garrisoned, to keep the 
Saxons in subjection. There stood on a precipitous height, the 
celebrated Irminseule, or Irmin's pillar, an object regarded 
with the most sacred veneration by the Saxons, but of which 
we do not precisely know whether it was an image of a god, or 
perhaps a monument of Arminius (Herman), the conqueror of 
the Romans, thus revered with divine honors. 

Paderborn, north of Eresburg, in the heart of Sax- 
ony, became its most important city, where Charlemagne 
often resided. He held there his diet, in 777 ; received 
the homage of the Saxons, and a visit from Pope Leo 
III. Near this city, at the head source of the Luppis (Lippe), 
called Lippespring, the Saxons suffered a tremendous defeat in 
776, and there Charles opened his Mayfield assembly, in 782, 
and in 804. Mount Suntel (Sauenthal), more east, where 
the generals of Charles were routed by the Saxons in 782. At 
Ohrheim, on the north, the Saxons were baptized in the river 
Weser, by thousands, after their submission. Bremon (Bremen), 
on the same river, and Hamaburg (Hamburg), on the Elbe, 
were originally fortresses built by Charles for the protection 
of the coasts, which soon became flourishing commercial cities. 



44 



FOURTH PERIOD.— EMPIRE OF CHARLEMAGNE. 



175. Alsatia (Alsace), southeast of Austrasia. Argen- 
tina CiviTAS, {Argentorattim), Strateburgum, Strasbtirg, on 
the Rhine, at the union of the roads from France to Germany, 
was the most important town of the province. 

1 76. Alemannia (now Baden, Wiirtemberg and Switzerland), 
southeast of Alsace. Constantia (Constance), on the Venetus 
Lacus, or Bodoma Sea, likewise called Lake of Constance. 
Santi G-alli MoNASTEPauM, a magnificent convent, built by 
St. Gallus. Curia (Chur), on the upper Rhine, in the high Alps. 

177. BoioARiA (Bavaria), east of Alemannia. Its duke, 
Thassilon, had, in spite of the homage paid to Pepin and 
Charles, sought the alliance of the Avars, and fomented an 
insurrection among the Lombards of Italy. He was therefore 
condemned at the diet of Ingelheim, in 788, had his hair cut 
off, and was exiled to the monastery of Fulda. Bavaria was 
then reduced to a province, and governed by Prankish counts. 
Ratisbona (Regeusburg), the capital on the Danube, where 
Charlemagne called together the diet in 792 for the organiza- 
tion of the province. Salisburgum (Salzburg), where Charles 
gave a magnificent reception to the Greek ambassadors, sent 
by the Emperor Nicephorus, to settle the frontiers between the 
two empires. 

178. Carentanum, Carinthia (Karnthen), one of the newly 
conquered territories, where Charles settled the surviving 
tribes of the vanquished Avars, in 803. Villach, the oldest 
town of that territory. 

179. Avaria (or Hunnia), on the northeast of Carinthia, 
the vast country between the Ens, skirting the Danube, through 
the present Austria and Hungaria, to the Theiss, which at 
that time was the seat of the still powerful nation of the Ava- 
res (by Eginhard called Huns). Charlemagne penetrated 
with his army into Avaria, in 791, as far as the Ens, and de- 
feated the barbarians in several battles. His son Pepin con- 
tinued the war, and driving them in 796 across the Theiss, de- 
stroyed the camp and capital of their Cliagan, or king — the 
RiNGUs, or fortified circle near Buda, on the Danube, where 
the Franks made an immense booty. Part of the vanquished 
Avars were forced to adopt Chi-istianity, and settled in Carin- 
thia ; the mass of the nation, however, fled back toward the 
Euxine, where they suffered still worse from their enemies, the 
Bulgarians, and disappeared altogether. Charles then brought 
German settlers into the conquered territory, and formed the 
Marca Orientalis — Ostrichi — (Austrian frontier county), a 
name it preserves to the present day. 

180. Nexjstria, shut in by the ocean, the Mosa, and the 
Loire, could only extend herself toward Brittany, which had 
made a violent effort during the reign of Charlemagne, to re- 
cover its independence. The Bretons were again put down by 
the sword in 786 ; many castles were taken by the Franks, but 
the country still remained so unsettled, that Charlemagne saw 
himself obliged to erect a Marca Andegavensis, whose mar- 
grave scoured the country at the head of his horse, and held 
Prankish garrisons in Namnete, Redanes, and Andegavi. 

181. Interesting Cities. — Paris, on the Sequana, had 
lost the distinction as capital, which it enjoyed under the reign of 
the Merovingians, but figured still as the metropolis of Neus- 
tria. The city had grown like the monarchy. She was no 
longer inclosed, like the ancient Lutetia, within the narrow 
boundary of the island of Notre Daone (Our Lady), in the 
river Seine ; she extended already along the right bank, and 
was fortified with walls, towers, and moats. Pons Major led 
from the island to the city, on the right bank ; Pons Miliar to 
the extensive suburbs on the left. Here were the palaces of 
Julian the Apostate and Clovis, the ancient cathedrals of Saint 
Medericus, and of Santa Genoveva, with numerous monasteries 
and convents in the gardens around. Paris and its environs 
formed the Pagus Parisiacus, with its own jurisdiction. 



Pepin the Short had died there, and* was buried in Saint Denis, 
a splendid abbey, built by the Merovingians, over the tomb of 
the Gallic Apostle. Sithiu (now Saint Omer), with a cele- 
brated monastery, in which the last Merovingian king died. 
BoNONiA (Boulogne), on the coast, had arsenals for the arma- 
ment of the coast fortresses, which Charlemagne had built to 
protect the country from the piratic expeditions of the North- 
men. It was likewise the station for one of his fleets. An- 
other squadron was placed at Ganda (Gand), on the junction 
of the Scaldis (Scheldt), with the Ligeris (Lys). Soissons 
still preserved its rank as the ancient capital ; it was there 
that Carloman was crowned, while his brother Charles chose 
Laudunum (Laon), in Austrasia, for his ceremony. Turones 
(Tours), on the Loire, was still the resort of thousands of pil- 
grims, who thronged to the shrine of Saint Martin. Among 
the royal residences we mention Veeberia, Verheriacwm (Ver- 
berie), northwest of Paris, where Pepin held a celebrated diet 
the first year of his reign, and Charlemagne built a splendid 
palace. Cartsiacus (Quierzy), northeast of the former, on 
the Isara (Oise), where Charles often resided, and Attini- 
ACUM (Attigny), southeast of the former on the Axona (Aisne), 
where the brave and unhappy Wittikind, the most distinguished 
of the Saxon leaders, did homage to Charlemagne in 785, and 
was baptized in the river. 

182. Burgundia (Bourgogne), embraced at that time all 
ancient Helvetia (Switzerland). Charlemagne divided Bur- 
gundy between his sons. Lyons and Geneva were the largest 
cities. The latter place, on the Lake Leman, was the rendez- 
vous of the feudal armies of Charlemagne, in the campaign 
against Lombardy, in 772. 

183. Aquitania (Aquitaine), reached across the Pyrenees 
to the banks of the Iberus (Bbro). The Aquitanians hated 
the Franks, and were always ready, under their own dukes, 
to take up arms against them. Duke Hunold was vanquished 
by Charlemagne in 769, and Aquitania, having become erected 
into a kingdom, was given to his youngest son, Louis. It con- 
tained fifteen counties, the provinces of Vasconia (Gascogne), 
Septimania, the Spanish Marches, Corsica, and the Balearic 
Islands. Tolosa (Toulouse), was the capital. Burdigala 
(Bordeaux), Franciacum (Fronsac), on the Dordonia (Dor- 
dogne), a strong fortress built by Charles in 770, to check the 
Aquitanians. 

184. Vasconia, at the foot of the Pyrenees, south of 
Aquitania, did homage to Charles, but its perfidious duke, 
Lupus, taking advantage of the difficult retreat of Charles 
through the deep valleys of the Pyrenees, joined with his 
mountaineers the Saracenic enemy, and cut to pieces the rear- 
guard of the Franks. But Charlemagne, having captured the 
duke, punished his treachery with the gallows, confiscated his 
duchy, and assigned to King Louis the mountain region of Bi- 
gorre, Beam, and lower Navarre, while the rest of the disti-ict 
was placed under the imperial government of the Prankish 
counts. RosciDA Vallis, Roncevalles, Roncevaux (the Briar- 
Valley), on the upper Irati, a tributary of the Aragon, is the cele- 
brated valley where Charlemagne, in 778, after his brilliant 
campaign on the Ebro, and the conquest of C^esar-Augusta 
(Zaragoza), suffered the terrible defeat in which Roland, the 
border-count of Bretagne, perished with the Prankish rear- 
guard, and all the Saracenic spoils were lost. The battle was 
fought in the defile of the highest Pyrenees, still called Puer- 
ta de Val Carlos, in commemoration of the only disaster 
that checked the victorious career of Charles. From the plain 
below, Charles was an eye-witness to the destruction of his 
brave companions, without being able to bring them relief^" 

'*" The death of Count Roland at the battle of Roncevalles, is the 
only historical fact connected with a name that afterwards becomes so 



FOURTH PERIOD.— EMPIRE OP CHARLEMAaNE— TRIBUTARY NATIONS. 



45 



Marca Hispanica or GothicB (the Spanish Border), con- 
sisted of Septimania (124) and the Comitatus Barcinona, 
the county of Barcelona, whose southern frontier was the river 
Bbro. Zaragoza and upper Aragon were soon reconquered by 
the Arabs, and the wild inhabitants of the Pyrenees were con- 
tinually wavering in their alliance with the Franks or the 
Mosleniin. Barcinona (Barcelona) was besieged and taken 
by King Louis of Aquitaine in 801, and became henceforth 
the capital of the Spanish border. Ampurias and Tarragona 
on the Mediterranean — Tortosa, a strong city on the Ebro, 
was taken by Charlemagne in 811, but fell soon back again 
into the power of the Moslemin. Pampiluna (Pamplona), 
northwest, on the Arga, was the capital of the district Marca 
Vasconensis, which was lost in 824, after a second defeat of 
the Franks by the Mohammedans, in the defile of Roncevalles. 
Upon the whole, the conquests of Charlemagne in Spain were 
very precarious, and could only be held during the civil wars 
among the Arabs, and the rebellions of the Saracen Walis or 
governors of the Chalif of Cordova, who sought a refuge at 
the court of Charlemagne. Barcelona, however, was main- 
tained, but its counts made themselves independent toward the 
close of the 9 th century. 

185. Italia or Longobardia (Lombardy), was conquered 
by Charlemagne in 773-74. The last Lombard king, Deside- 
rius, died as a prisoner in France, and Lombardy was erected 
into a kingdom, and awarded to Pepin, the second son of 
Charles, in 781. It comprised the greater part of the Italian 
peninsula, from the base of the Alps, on the north, to the ter- 
ritory of Gaeta and the river Liris (Garigliano), on the south, 
which formed the frontier of the tributary duchy of Beneven- 
tum. Within the kingdom of Italy lay, on the west, the 
Patrimonium Sancti Petri (the Papal See), consisting of the 
donations of Pepin and Charlemagne. It comprised, 1, the 
duchy of Ro7Jte, from the river Marta to the Liris ; 2, Tics- 
cia, from the Marta north to the Floris and the duchy of 
Perusia (Perugia) ; 3, Sabina with the duchy of Spoletuvi ; 
4, The Exarchate of Ravenna, v/iih the Pentapolis (153), 
along the coast of the Adriatic. Rome was the scene of the 
coronation of Charlemagne, on Christmas day, in a. d. 800, in 
the ancient Basilica of St. Peter in Vaticano. Ravenna was 
still a splendid city. Pavia had suffered from the long siege, 
and now lost its prerogative as capital of the Lombard king- 
dom. The Lombards of Verona made the last stand against 
Charlemagne. In that strong position Adalgisa, the brave 
son of King Desiderius, attempted in vain to sustain the inde- 
pendence of the Lombard nation. He fled to Constantinople, 
but Charlemagne, still fearing the conspiracies of the Lombard 
dukes in his favor, abolished the old Lombard laws and con- 
stitution, and introduced the Prankish administration. Only 
the Papal states remained independent, the Emperor reserving 
for himself the title of Protector Sancti Petri. 

186. The Duchy of Beneventum. — The Lombard dukes 
of this fertile territory remained almost independent of the 
empire, though the duke did homage to Charles, and paid a 
yearly tribute of 25,000 gold pieces. It contained the greater 
part of the present kingdom of Naples, from the Pescara to 
Tarentum. Duke Romualdus had conquered the eastern coast- 
land of Apulia (now Terra di Bari) from the Byzantine em- 
pire, and given it the name Longobardia Minor. The rivers 
Sabbatus and Neta separated the duchy from the Italian pos- 
sessions of the Greeks.^' 

Beneventum on the Vulturnus, was the elegant and splen- 

celebrated in the romances and epic poems of the Norman-French 
minstrels and the Italian poets Pulci, Bojardo, and the divine Ariosto. 

" The Greek empire, besides Calabria, still possessed in Italy the 
town and promontory of Otranto, the duchy of Naples, Cajeta (Gaeta), 
Sardinia, Sicily, and Malta. 



did capital of the dukes. Capua, the southernmost point to 
which Charlemagne carried his victorious arms dm-ing his ex- 
pedition in 807. Luceria (Lucera), in the Apulian plain, was 
taken by the Franks in 802. Acerenza, in the interior, and 
Salernum on the Posidonian or Salernian Gulf, both strong 
fortresses, which Charlemagne considered so dangerous, that 
he ordered Duke Grimoaldus to demolish their walls, when he 
granted him the investiture of the duchy. 

187. Eastern Provinces belonging to the Kingdom of 
Italy. — The Marquisate of Friuli, on the northeast of Italy, 
was governed by Prankish counts after the revolt and death of 
the last duke in 777. When Pepin became king of Italy, 
Friuli formed a most important marquisate or border county, 
which comprised Istria, Liburnia^ and Dalmatia, on the fron- 
tiers of the Byzantine empire. Civitas Austri^e, Forum Ju- 
lii, or Friuli (now Udine), north of Aquileia, was the capital. 

Justinopolis (now Capo d'Istria), the capitalof Istria, and 
all the maritime towns on the Dalmatian coast, belonged to the 
Greeks. The frontier line between the two empires is not 
known. The Sclavonic tribe of the Chrobati or Croats, occu- 
pying the northeast of Dalmatia, as far south as the river Cet- 
tina, near Spalatro, were subjects of Charlemagne, while the 
SoRABiANS or Serbians, in the eastern province of Serbia, be- 
yond the mountains, acknowledged the supremacy of Byzantium. 

Venice, enthroned on her hundred isles, was already an 
independent republic. King Pepin had in vain attempted to 
attack her with his Prankish army. She had beaten him back 
from her impregnable lagoons, and it was only a mere cere- 
mony when she sent her ambassadors in 806 to do homage to 
the old Emperor at Aquisgranum. 

B. — Tributary Nations. 

188. Position and Political Relations of the Scla- 
voNiANS. — We have seen (77, 117) the advance of the different 
Slavic nations westward on the Elbe, and their settlement all 
along the eastern frontiers of the Franks, from the Baltic south 
to the Danube and the Adriatic. With Charlemagne begins 
the period of the Slavic wars, which continued almost without 
interruption to the thirteenth century, when the Sclavonians were 
either driven back on the Vistula or became christianized, 
Germanized, and incorporated in the German Empire. Charle- 
magne laid the foundation to those eastern marches or border 
districts, which somewhat later appear in the history of the Car- 
lovingian emperors, under the name of Marca Sorabica, Bohe- 
mica (Nordgau), Orientalis, Avarica, Windonan (Windische 
Mark), and extended from the Elbe all along the Carpathian 
and Bohemian Mountains to the Theiss , the lower Danube, the 
Save and the Dalmatian hills on the Mediterranean. Charle- 
magne himself, in the midst of his multifarious occupations, 
undertook several expeditions against the Obotrites on the 
Baltic, the Wiltzes or Welatabes, between the Elbe and the 
Oder, and the Checks (Czechs), in Bohemia, who all acknow- 
ledged the Prankish supremacy, while the Empire was govern- 
ed by so strong an arm. The Slavi even took up German 
habits, and they called their native zupanies, kral (konig), in 
imitation of the Germans. The religion of the Slavi was Dual- 
istic, with some notions of Odin and Walhalla. Their insti- 
tutions were as primitive as their manners ; their character was 
good-natured, light-hearted and fickle ; they possessed neither 
the bright understanding of the Romanic nations, nor the depth 
of feeling and the integrity of the Germans, nor the chivalrous 
bearing, the fancy, and the romance of the Northmen. The Slavi 
could only act under strong impulses from without ; their vir- 
tue consisted in obedience ; the world has felt this, and called 
the strictest form of serfdom — slavery. 



46 



FOURTH PERIOD.— EMPIRE OF CHARLEMAGNE— DANES. 



189. Such was the vast empire which the small Bation 
of the Franks, in the course of three centuries, had united by 
force of arms, and a truly great monarch had extended and 
consolidated by his genius. Charlemagne was now an old man ; 
from his beloved Aquisgranum he directed the government of 
so many nations, and secured the tranquillity and progress of 
the European world with admirable equity and vigor ; but he 
foresaw that he would be called off before his new creation 
would have attained the vitality and strength necessary for its 
existence. He feared the ambition or incapacity of his sons, 
and he therefore resolved himself to superintend the approach- 
ing division of his states. A national assembly was called to- 
gether in Thionville, in 806, where he proceeded to a general 
division of his dominions in the presence of his three sons, 
Charles, Pepin, and Louis. To Louis, the youngest, he gave 
Aquitaine, with Gascogne, Septimania, the Spanish border, 
Burgundy, and Provence ; to Pepin, Italy, southern Alemannia, 
with Bavaria, and the eastern frontier lands, as far as the Da- 
nube and the upper Rhine ; and to Charles, the future Em- 
peror, France proper, that is Austria (Austrasia), Neustria, 
northern Alemannia, with the Noi'thgau of Bavaria, Thurin- 
gia, Saxonia, and Friesland. He even provided for all the 
eventualities by the demise of the one or the other of his sons, 
in order that no civil wars might break out after his death, and 
destroy the glorious work of so active and successful a reign. 
Yet his prudent designs were not to be fulfilled. Charlemagne 
himself lived to see his two most worthy sons die, the one after 
the other, and when he, shortly before his own death in 
814, crowned Louis the Good, his only remaining son. Emperor 
in Aquisgranum, he gave to this weak and bigoted youth the 
whole empire, with the exception of Italy, which was awarded 
to his nephew, Bernard, the son of Pepin. The rebellion and 
death of Bernard, the subsequent civil wars between Louis le 
Debonnair and his own violent and imnatural sons, and the 
antipathy of the different nationalities — French, German, Aqui- 
tanian, and Italian — caused within thirty years (818-843) the 
eventful treaty at Verdun, which assigned to the great Euro- 
pean states that extent and those limits which, with few modifi- 
cations, they still preserve at the present day. 



§ IL INDEPENDENT EUROPEAN NATIONS 
ABOUT A. D. 800. 

A. — The Northmen. 

190. Scandinavia. — In the north the tardy dawn of day 
has begun ; the sagas become more consistent ; we stand at last 
on a firm historical footing. Denmark, Sweden, and Nor- 
way, are still divided among petty kings ; yet so early as 735 
we distinguish the Danish Sea-king Harald Gold-tooth (Hilde- 
tand), who, by dint of his sword, united the greater part of 
the islands and the mainland of Sweden. On the heath of 
Braavalla, in East Gothland, he fought a great battle with 
his nephew, the Swedish king Sigurd Ring, in a. d. 740, dur- 
ing the government of Charles Martel in France. At this fa- 
mous engagement all the petty kings and pirates of the north, 
and most of the nations bordering the Baltic, Sclavonians, 
Saxons, Livonians, Frisians and others, met in arms. King- 
Sigurd headed the hosts of northern Sweden and Norway, and 
the fairest of the shield-maidens {skjoldvider), Ursina, bore his 
banner. After the most sanguinary combat, the Danes gave 
way before the Norwegian archers from Tellemark ; the blind 
old king, Harald, mounted on his battle-car, drives furiously 
into the throng of battle ; all his chieftains sink around him, and 
he dies himself the death of a hero. Both armies then stop the 
slaughter ; they surround the magnificent funeral pile on which 



the body of King Harald is burned with his armor, chariot, 
and war-horse. King Sigurd, the victor, crosses over the 
Sound to the Danish islands, and builds the town of Ringsted 
in Sealand, where he lies buried. His son, Regnar Lodbrok, 
extends his maritime expeditions to Britain in 794. The 
Danish rovers burn the monastery of Saint Cuthbert on the 
Isle of Lindisfarne ; but they are defeated by King Ella of 
Northumberland, who throws the Danish Sea-king into the 
Snake-tower, where the old lion suffers the most horrible death 
among the reptiles, while singing the Lodbrokar Quida or 
Biarke Maal, the wildest and most beautiful song of the 
Northmen.^* Sigurd Snake-eye (Snogoje), his son, inherited 
Denmark, but was slain in battle with the Prankish border 
counts in a. d. 803, after extending his sway over all Reit- 
Gothland (Jutland), Skaane, Halland, and the southern parts 
of Norway. Another son, Bjorn (Bear), ruled in Sweden, while 
the more illustrious third brother, Godfred, King of Jutland, 
advanced upon the Eider, where he erected the celebrated wall 
or mound of earth and stones, the Dannevirke, across the 
peninsula from the bay of the river Schley (Slias-wyk or 
Schleswig), westward to the North Eider, to protect his Scan- 
dinavian dominions from the inroads of the conquering Franks 
of Charlemagne at that time — a. d. 806— occupied in the sub- 
jugation and conversion of the Saxons. Fleets of the North- 
men began already their piratical descents iipon the coasts of 
Fi-iesland, and at the mouth of the Scheldt and Rhine. In 
order to control these dangerous guests, the great Emperor 
built the Castle of Hammaburg (Hamburg) on the Elbe, and 
concluded a treaty with the successor of Godfred, King Hem- 
ming, of Jutland ; according to which the Eider should form 
the boundary between Denmark and the Prankish Empire, and 
the Danes abandon their conquests south of that river. A few 
years later Christianity was preached in Denmark by Ansga- 
rius, the Apostle of the North (826), and in 883 we find the 
whole kingdom united under King Gorm the Old of Sealand. 

Sweden was still an almost unknown country. Bjorn 
Ironside, the son of Regnar Lodbrok, inherited Sivearike and 
Gota-land^ and resided at Biorko, on the frith of M^larn. 
In 826, he invited the monk Ansgarius, then preaching the 
Gospel in Schleswig, to visit Sweden. The courageous mission- 
ary followed the call ; he and his monks visited the large city 
of Loire, on Sealand (106), then the capital of the Danish 
kings, and though captured by the pirates in the Sound, and 
losing his precious Bibles and missals, the excellent man, ne- 
vertheless, succeeded in reaching the dreary coast of Halland. 
Beautiful, romantic Sweden, was then a wilderness. For days 
and weeks the poor monks waded through morasses, in- 
tersected with copse woods and pine forests, without meeting 
a hviman being : they had to cross the stormy lakes in small 
canoes, and while forcing their way through the mountains, 
they were every moment in danger of falling into the fangs of 
some shaggy bear ; but protected by an all-ruling Providence, 
and by the relics of Saint Cuthbert, — as Ansgarius says,- — and 
by their persevering courage, they at last descended on the 
smiling banks of the Maelarn, the only part of the interior of 

^'^ In this lament of twenty-five stanzas, King Kegnar recounts all 
the conquests and cruelties of his wild life, each stanza beginning with 
the fearful words, " We hewed with swords in deadly strife." The clos- 
ing lines paint admirably the wild faith of the heathen Northman : 

" Cease my strain ! I hear them call, 
"Who bid me hence to Odin's hall ! 
High-seated in their bless'd abodes, 
I soon shall quaff the cup of gods ; — 
The hours of life have glided by, 
I fall ! but laughing will I die ! " 

Regnar received his by-name of Lodbrok from the shaggy skin-garments 
he wore over his armor. 



FOURTH PERIOD.— SLAVI—CHAZARS— BYZANTINE GREEKS. 



47 



Sweden which was permanently settled at that remote pe- 
riod. Ansgarius was well received by King Bjorn and his 
drottars, or chiefs, one of whom built the first Christian 
church on the Mselarn ; and it is a remarkable fact that the 
Swedes, even at the sanctuary of Odin at Sigtuna, were more 
tractable than the Danes of the islands, or the still more savage 
mountaineers of Norway. 

Norway was still divided into a great number of smaller 
states, which were formed by the deep valleys, bays, and 
friths on the mainland, or on the numerous islands off the 
coast. Each district had its king. Thrond, Myere, Fjord, 
in the north ; Sogn, Hordaland, Rogaland, Westfold, on 
the coast of the ocean ; Agde, Wiken, on the south ; Hada- 
LAND, Tellemark, Hedemark, Upland, in the interior. All 
these petty states were united in the kingdom of Norway in 
880, by the heavy sword of Harald, the fair-haired (Haar- 
fager). 

B. — Sclavonic and Turco-Tartaric Nations in Eastern 
Europe. 

191. The Lj^chs, or Poles, inhabited the upper Odera 
(Oder), and the Vistula. They were still divided into small 
principalities, and seem to have done homage to Charlemagne, 

.^.. since his historian, Eginhard, says that the sway of the Franks 
reached eastward to the Vistula. 

192. North of the Ljaschs, we find the mighty Slavic peo- 
/ pie of the Wendes (107), and the fierce Borussi (Prussians), on 

"73;he Baltic (91), and bordering eastward on the Litwani, or Li- 
y^thuanians, and Kriwitchi. On the northern slope of the 
Carpathian range, lived the Belo-Chrovates, or White Croats^ 
I and on the Dniester the PoLiENi and smaller tribes, who 
] had at that time begun to yield to the Turkish hordes of the 
rChazars, rapidly advancing from the shores of the Caspian 
Sea, toward the upper plain of Slavia. 

193. The Chazars (91) are held to be an East Grerman 
/ nation, allied with the Alani, by Ritter and other German eth- 

/ nologists, but they seem rather to belong to the true Turco- 
' Tartar race. They were divided into forty tribes, under their 
hereditary chiefs — Chans — yet they acknowledged the supre- 
macy of a great Chan, or Ohagan, who possessed sovereign au- 
thority. The Chazars were a commercial people. Though origi- 
/ nally Nomades, they soon became agriculturists in the fertile 
I lands on the Kuban and the lower Volga ; they raised rice, fruits, 
[ corn and wine. From their important fisheries on the Caspian, 
^ they obtained the sturgeon, their principal nourishment. They 
j ascended the Volga, and brought their skins, fish, and the In- 
/ dian stuifs and luxuries to Constantinople. From the north- 
ern MoRDWiNs and Russniaks (Russians), they bartered honey, 
wax, and precious furs, which they transported to Africa, 
Spain, and France. Atel, or Balangiar (near Astracan), at 
the mouth of the Volga, was the residence of the Chagan. 
His palace was brick-built, but the Chazaric dwellings were 
clay huts. Sarkel, a Chazaric fortress on the Don, was built 
by Byzantine engineers in their service, to defend the passage 
)of the river against the incursions of the Russians. The 
,' Chazars maintained their vast empire until the middle of 
• the lOtli century; but then it began rapidly to decline, partly 
by civil feuds of the clans against the Chagan, and the rebel- 
lion of the kindred tribes, the Cumani and Petcheneges (Pat- 
zinacks), and partly by the successful attacks of the Russian 
Grand Dukes of Kiew, who, uniting with the Emperor Basi- 
lius in a. d. 1016, defeated and captured the great Chan, 
George Zoulus, and divided the territory, which still for cen- 
turies preserved its name of Chazaria. The warlike nation 
V was lost among other tribes on the Caspian ; but part of their 
\ descendants seem to have preserved themselves unadulterated, 



I 



in the noble race of the Kadjars (Usbecks), on the east of the 
Volga, and the Caspian Sea. 

III. The Byzantine Empire. 

194. Limits and Vicissitudes. — Terrible were the 
storms that broke loose on the Eastern Empire during the 
latter years of the more brilliant than prosperous reign of 
Justinian I. His weak successors were threatened with total 
destruction. Huns, Avars, Slavini, Bulgarians, Tartaric, and 
Turcoman tribes forced the formidable line of the frontier 
fortresses along the Danube, overran the Illyrian provinces, 
and settled at last (during the 7th century) permanently in 
Moesia, Dacia, Illyria, Thrace, Macedonia, and in the heart of 
Hellas herself. The Lombards occupied the greater part of 
Italy, the -reconquest of which, from the Ostrogoths, by Beli- 
sarius and Narses, had cost the empire such waste of blood 
and treasure. The kings of the Visigoths in Spain drove the 
Greek garrisons from the cities and posts of Boetica and Car- 
thaginensis, in southeastern Spain, in 619. The brilliant vic- 
tories of Heraclius over the Persian Kosroes, the subse- 
quent destruction of the Persian empire on the Tigris, and re- 
conquest of Jerusalem and Syria, in a. d. 621-28, served only 
to weaken the empire, and to kindle the fiery flames of reli- 
gious dissension. On the first appearance of the Moham- 
medan Saracens, from the Arabian deserts, in 632, the 
Christian sectarians embraced the Koran. Damascus, Jeru- 
salem, and Antioch fell, 635-38 ; Alexandria and Egypt in 
640 ; and the Arabian torrent rolled on through Northern 
Africa. Carthage was conquered by Abd-el-Malek, in 684, 
and the crescent of Mohammed had already reached the ocean 
in 705, and stood planted on the ruins of the ancient Christian 
cities, from the Atlantic on the west, to the distant frontiers of 
Cilicia, Armenia, and Lazica, at the base of Mount Caucasus 
on the east. Cyprus was lost in 805, Crete in 823, and Sicily 
in 826 ; and thus, of all the extensive territories of the em- 
pire, and the recent conquests of Justinian I., there remained 
in the era of Charlemagne, only the impregnable capital of 
Constantinople, with some parts of Thrace, Macedonia, the 
^gean Islands, Asia Minor, and a few cities on the coasts of 
Crimea and of Dalmatia, besides Gaeta, Naples, and the coast 
of Calabria, in Southern Italy. 



ScLAvoNiAN Settlements in the Byzantine Empire. 

195. A. Kingdom of the Bulgarians. — In the preceding 
maps we have followed the advance of that Sclavo-Tartaric 
nation, from their early seats on Mount Oural (93), to the 
shores of the Euxine (108, 149), whence they made devastat- 
ing incursions into the Byzantine empire. While roaming on 
the plains between the Don, Dneister, and Pruth, the Avars 
fell upon them and subdued them ; yet the cruelty of their 
'oppressors was so intolerable, that the Bulgars threw ofl' the 
yoke in 619, and, under the command of their Chan Kuvrat 
(149), defeated the Avars, and maintained their independence 
under his successors. The Chan Asparuch crossed the Dan- 
ube in 678, and founded the Bulgarian kingdom in Moesia, 
between the Hasmus and the Danube — the present Bulgaria. 
A great portion of this fertile territory had already been occu- 
pied by Sclavonian emigrants, Tiverzi, Serverians, and 
others, who appear to have exterminated the last remains of 
the old Thracian race. These Sclavonians were called the 
Seven Tribes. The Bulgarians, although the dominant race, 
became, after the conquest, absorbed into the mass of 
the Sclavonian population. Thus the original Turco-Tartar 
race of the Bulgarians adopted the Sclavonian language, and 



48 



FOUETH PERIOD.— BULGARIANS— SERVIANS— SLAVI—SAKACENS. 



gave their name to the country, which it retains at the present 
day, yet they preserved many traces of their earlier nomadic 
habits. Like the son of the steppes, the Bulgar is still insep- 
arable from his horse— his ahgon, or mute friend. He is 
laborious, good-natured, and hospitable. The Bulgarian 
women are kind-hearted, compassionate, and industrious ; their 
fig-ure is slender ; their deportment elegant ; and they yield, in 
charms, only to the Greek women, the very model of female 
beauty in the East. 

They contimred their wars with the Byzantine emperors, 
who were often defeated ; the Khan Krummus took, in 815, 
advantage of the humiliation of the Avars by Charlemagne ; 
he crossed the Danube, prostrated the mortal enemies of the 
Bulgarians, and founded on their ruins the great Bulgarian 
Empire, which toward the middle of the 9th century extended 
from the Theiss, and the Carpathian ridge, south across the Da- 
nube, through Macedonia and Epirus to the frontiers of Greece. 
Dm-ing this period the Bulgarians were converted to Chris- 
tianity by the Greek missionaries, Methodius and Cyrillus, an 
event of the highest importance, not only because it promoted 
the civilization of that barbarous people, but because the viru- 
lent contest between the Romish Pope and the Patriarch of 
Constantinople, about the Bulgarian converts, proved the main 
cause of the great schism which for ever severed the Latin and 
Greek churches. 

196. B. Serbia or Territory of the Servians. — The Emperor 
Heraklius being unable to defend western Illyria and Dalmatia 
against the inroads of the Avars, induced some Sclavonic 
tribes from the Carpathian mountains, the Serbs and Chro- 
BATS (Croats), to abandon their ancient seats and move down 
south, into the provinces between the Adriatic and the Danube. 
The Greek and Roman population had been driven toward the 
sea-coast by the continual forays of the Avars, and these beau- 
tiful and fertile regions were now repeopled by the gallant and 
chivalrous Servians or Rascians, the noblest, most spirited 
and imaginative of the Sclavonic tribes, who, under their na- 
tive chiefs or Zupa7iies, remained faithful in their allegiance 
to the empire until a. d. 1040, when Stephan Boistlaf made 
himself an independent Jcral or king of Serbia. 

C. Sclavonian Tribes in Greece. — Numerous hordes of 
Slavi (Slavini, Slavesiani), mixed with Bulgarians and Avars, 
had, during the revolutions on the Danube in the beginning of 
the 8th century, descended through the pass of Thermopylae, 
and settled in Hellas under their native chiefs, almost entirely 
independent of Constantinople. They took possession of 
Thessaly, Boeotia, and the peninsula of Peloponnesus, which 
at that time already began to be called Morea (from the mul- 
berry tree, perhaps, introduced there by Justinian in 555). 
The Sclavonians occupied Argolis, Arcadia, Elis, Messenia, 
and the valley of Laconia, while the native Greeks fled to the 
coasts and the higher mountain-regions, and it was not until a 
century later, in 860, that Michael III. sent his general, The- 
octistos, with an army to the Morea, and succeeded in reducing 
the Sclavonian princes to the allegiance of the empire. The 
free Laconians had then retired to the fastnesses of the mount 
Taygetus, and the plains of Messenia and Laconia were occu- 
pied by two warlike Sclavonian tribes, the Melingi and Eze- 
ritse, who were reduced to pay tribute to the Emperor.^ ^ 

" Even to the present day we find traces of tliese Sclavonian settle- 
ments on the plains of the Morea, where the villages still retain the old 
Sclavonic names ; as, for instance, Slava, Slavochori, Varsava, Vervitza, 
Vilitza, Kosovo, Tzernagora, Akova, Arachova, Dobrena,— while on 
the coast the Hellenic names prevail :— Corinth, Patrse, Arcadia, Mo- 
don, Coron, Vitylos, Prastos, Argos, Nauplia, Epidauros, and others. 
See, for details on the Sclavonians in Greece, and their influence on the 
manners and language of the modern Greeks, Geo. Finlay's Medieval 
Greece, Edinburgh, 18.51. 



The Emperor Leo VI. (886-911), in his important work 
on the military organization of the Byzantine empire, gives a 
favorable description of the Sclavonic nations in Greece. The 
Slavi loved liberty, though they were unable to preserve it ; 
they disdained the service of foreigners, and preferred the 
severer sway of their native Zupanies to the milder govern- 
ment of Byzantium. They were sincere, hospitable, and mild 
toward their prisoners. The imj^erial historian praises the 
beauty and modesty of the Sclavonian women, and the faithful 
affection of their husbands, as characteristic virtues of that 
race. Herds and flocks were their riches ; agriculture their 
occupation, but they neglected mechanical arts and com- 
merce; their wants were few, and they preferred to enjoy 
an independent life, rather than to earn comforts and afflu- 
ence to which they were indifferent. 



IV. THE MOHAMMEDAN WORLD. 

ITS POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY DURING THE CALIPHATE OF 
HAROUN-AR-RASCHID. 

197. Extent and Boundaries. — Mohammed preached the 
Islam faith in Mecca. With his flight to Medina, on the 15th 
July, 622, begins the era of the. Arabs. On his death in 632, 
his religion and his banner extended throughout Arabia, and 
within one century his enthusiastic Moslemin had already subject- 
ed to their laws all that partof Asia which extends from the range 
of Mount Taurus eastward to the Himmalaya and the Indus, and 
from the Indian Ocean on the south, to Mount Caucasus and 
the river Jaxartes (Sihun) on the north ; in Africa, they had 
conquered Egypt and all the northern regions between the 
coasts of the Mediterranean and the great desert of Sahara in 
the interior ; from thence they had crossed the straits of Calpe 
in 711, and after the defeat and death of the Visigoth king, 
Roderic, at Xeres, on the Guadalete, they had occupied the 
greatest part of Spain, driving the Goths into the Asturian 
mountains ; nay, they had even crossed the Pyrenees with 
their hundred thousands, and, in 732, advanced upon the 
Loire, when the Prankish hero, Charles the Hammer, saved 
France and all Christendom by his memorable victory at 
Tours. At the time when this vast empire was divided into 
two, in consequence of the establishment of the Emirate of 
Cordova or of the West, a. d. 756, it stretched from the 
shores of the Atlantic eastward beyond the Indus, and from 
the African desert and the Indian Ocean on the south, to the 
Pyrenees in Europe, the Mediterranean, Mount Caucasus, the 
Caspian, the deserts north of the Sihun, and Mount Muztag, 
on the borders of China. 

198. Division. — The dynasty of the Ommiyad Caliphs 
perished, under the most terrific civil wars, in the year 750, 
and Abul-Abbas-el-Saffah (the Butcher), the first Caliph of the 
Abbasids, transferred his residence from the blood-stained 
Damascus to Hira, on the Euphrates, in 754. Yet the Om- 
miyad Abdor-Rhaman had escaped the general destruction of 
his family, and, fleeing to Spain, had founded the independent 
Emirate of Cordova in 755. During the revolutions which 
followed this political division in the Arabic empire, other 
chiefs asserted their independence in Northern Africa, and 
thus we flnd the Mohammedan world, at the time of Charle- 
magne and the Abbasid Caliph Haroun-ar-Raschid (786-809), 
divided into four large states or dynasties: 1, The Caliphate 
of the Abbasids in Asia and Egypt; 2, The Kingdom of Kair- 
rouan, or the dynasty of the Aglabites, in the ancient territory 
of Carthage, and part of Numidia ; 3, The Kingdom of Mek- 
ines, or the dynasty of the Edrisites, in Mauritania ; and 4, 
the Emirate of Cordova, or the dynasty of the younger 
branch of the Ommiyads, in Spain. In order to give clear 



^ 



FOURTH PERIOD.— MOHAMMEDAN WORLD— CALIPHATE OF BAGDAD. 



49 



ness to our description of the Saracenic empire toward the 
close of the 8th centm-y, we shall describe the provinces in the 
succession in which they were annexed to the Caliphate of Da- 
mascus, beginning with the mother country, Arabia herself. 

A. — Caliphate of the Abbasids in Bagdad. 

199. Lbiits, Division, and Provinces. — The orthodox 
successors (Caliphs) of the Prophet ruled over the eastern 
Mohammedan world, from the great Syrtis eastward to the 
Indus, and from the frontiers of Nubia in the south, to Mount 
Caucasus, the river Sihun and Mount Muztag in the north, 
and the empire embraced the following provinces : 

200. I. Arabia. — Djesirah-al-Arah — the Island of Arabj^ 
— was, from the remotest times, inhabited by populations who 
differed from one another in their habits and manners, and 
were divided into a great number of tribes, each governed by 
an Emir or Sheik, the patriarch of the family. We likewise 
distinguish two principal divisions with regard to their pur- 
suits : 1st, the Nomades, known by the ancients as Scenitce 
{^K-qvlraL) or dwellers in tents, afterwards called the Sons of 
the Desert, Saracens, or Bedawins.^^ They were wandering 
about with their herds of camels and horses in the oasis of 
northern Arabia, where the kingdom of the Ghassanides (or 
of Edom) had been formed on the frontiers of Syria ; other 
tribes of nomading Saracens inhabited the dreary table lands 
of al-Nedjed in central Arabia : 2d, the Hhaddesi or seden- 
tary Arabs, who dwelt in the cities and villages situated along 
the coasts of the Red Sea (Bahr Kolzom). They consisted 
likewise of two races — the Hagareans or Ismaelites, the de- 
scendants of Ismael, the son of Abraham and Hagar, who in- 
habited northern Arabia, and were partly idolaters and partly 
Jews, while some partook of the Magian worship and adored 
the stars. The second race were the Sabeans, who occupied 
the southern regions of Arabia — by the ancients called Araby 
the Blessed. There the Homeii-ids (Himjarids) had early ac- 
cepted the Mosaic faith ; but in a. d. 527, they were converted to 
Christianity by the sword of the Christian Kings of Abyssinia 
in Africa. Yemen, with its flourishing cities, its delightful 
climate, rich productions and traffic with India, was consi- 
dered the gem of Arabia. At the period which now occupies 
us, all these states had embraced the new faith, and obeyed the 
great Caliph of the Prophet in Bagdad. 

201. Principal Cities. — Mekka, an ancient city, situated 
in a narrow sandy valley fifty-five miles from the coast, and its 
port, Djedda, on the Red Sea, in the province of El Hedjaz. 
It was the sacred city of the Arabs, and pilgrims of every 
creed assembled there at the yearly festival in the great sanctu- 
ary of the Beit Allah or House of God, with the Co' aha, and the 
black stone which Adam was said to have brought away from 
the terrestrial paradise. It was here where Mohammed began 
his preaching in a. d. 6 1 ; and after the conquest of the city in 
629, called the Moslemin (believers), together on the hill of 
Arafat, and was proclaimed the spiritual and temporal sove- 
reign of the Arabs. Djebel Harah, southeast of Mekka, 
into whose grottoes Mohammed retired to meditate his great 
reform. Djebel Thor, northeast, the cavern to which he fled 
for safety from the pursuit of the Koreishites on the 15th 
July, 622, and whence he sped through the desert to Medina. 
Yathreb — Jathrippa — called Medinah-al-Nebi, the city of 
the Prophet (now Medina), where Mohammed found a refuge 
after his flight (Hedjra) from Mekka in 622, lies 270 miles 
north of the latter city, and became the capital and burial- 
place of Mohammed and the first Caliphs. In its splendid 

"'' Saracens is supiDosed to signify Scharakajim, natives of the East ; 
and Bedawins or Bedouins to be derived from Badia, desert, — Bar, Broi, 
Berbers. 



mosque stand the tombs of Mohammed, Abu-Bekr, and 
Omar. 

202. Bede, southwest of Medina, in a valley near the coast 
of the Bahr Kolzom, was the celebrated battle-field on which 
Mohammed gained the first victory over his inveterate enemies, 
the Koreishites of Mekka, in 624. Djebel Ohod, four miles 
northwest of Medina, was the scene of the reformer's defeat in 
625, which had nearly crushed Mohammedanism in its birth. 
Chaibar, northeast of Medina, in the Djebel Solma, the 
strongly fortified capital of the Jews in the north of Arabia. 
It was stormed and taken by Mohammed in 627, and the Jews 
converted to Islam by the edge of the sabre ; it was here 
that the Jewish maiden, Zainah, poisoned the Prophet, who 
died three years later from the effects of the potion. Tabuk, 
the fountain and palm-grove, midway between Damascus and 
Medina, where the old and sick Prophet stopped the march of 
his suffering army in 632, and returned to die in Medina. Mxjtah 
(Mothus), near the eastern shore of Bahr el Luth (the Dead 
Sea), where the Mohammedans gained the first victory over the 
Greek army in 632. The valley of Honein, north of Mekka, 
is celebrated by the important victory of Mohammed over the 
idolatrous tribes of Arabia. Dawmat al Jandal (Dumet el 
Djondol), on the outskirts of the Syrian Desert in the interior, 
the first Christian city which the fanatic Mussulmans took in 
626 ; but having been lost to the Greeks, it was reconquered by 
Khaled in 631, and its fall secured the Arabs the eastern road 
to Damascus. Ailah (Akabah), fortress and port on the north- 
eastern gulf of the Red Sea (Bahr Akabah), the conquest of 
which secured to the Mohammedans the passage through the 
valley of Mount Sinai. 

203. In Yemen, Sa'anah (Sabah), the capital. Mocpia, 
Aden (Abin), a port on the Indian Ocean ; Bahrein on the 
coast of the Persian Gulf (Bahr Alakdar) ; the kingdom of 
Gassan, north of Hedjaz ; Yemamah, a powerful state in cen- 
tral Arabia (al Nedjed) ; which all were subdued by the gene- 
rals of the Prophet in the years 628-631. 

II. The kingdom of Hira in Irak-Arabi, northeast of 
Arabia, on the western bank of the Euphrates, was the first 
conquest of Abu-Bekr in 633. This kingdom, the Babylonian 
Irak, was governed by the Arabian chief Al-Mondar, under 
the sovereignty of Persia. Hira was the capital, and an import- 
ant commercial city not far from the Euphrates. Ambar, on 
the north, became the capital of the Abbasids in 750, before 
the building of Bagdad. 

204. III. Syria (es Sham), the whole region northwest 
of Arabia, as far as Mount Amanus, and from the coast of the 
Mediterranean to the Euphrates, was the second conquest of 
the Arabs, who overran that country in 634-38. Bostra (11), 
east of Jordan, was betrayed by its governor to Khaled, the 
lieutenant of the Caliph. Damascus (Dameschk, es-Sham), the 
richest and most populous city in southern Syria, surrendered 
after the second defeat of the troops of Heraclius at Aiznaddin. 
Hamath (the ancient Epi^jhania), on the Orontes. Shaizar 
(the ancient Sariua), Kinnesrin (Chalcis), and other cities 
surrendered voluntarily to the victors. 

On the banks of the Hieromax ( Yermuk), a river discharg- 
ing into the Jordan below the Lake of Tiberias, was the 
place of the last decisive battle, where the whole Roman army 
was cut to pieces in 636, a disaster which caused all Syria to sur- 
render to the crescent. ' Jerusalem (Beit el Mokkaddas) capi- 
tulated, after an obstinate defence of four months, to the Caliph 
Omar, who came himself to take possession of the holy city, and 
built the splendid mosque of Omar on Mount Moriah. H aleb (the 
ancient Beroa), Tripolis (Tarabolos), Tyrus (Sur), C.esarea 
(Kaisarieh), Joppe (Yafa), Ascalon, and many other cities, fell 
all successively into the power of the Arabs, who thus secured 
their rear for their expedition into Egypt and western Africa. 



50 



FOURTH PERIOD.— CALIPHATE OF BAGDAD. 



IV. SzoGHUR, that is, the land of defiles, the northern part of 
es-Sham,with the three celebrated defiles of Syria, of Mount Am- 
anus, and of Cilicia — Portce Maritimce, Amantides^ and Cilicice. 
— which lead from Syria into Cilicia, and across Mount Taurus 
into the plains of Cappadocia. It embraced, likewise, the an- 
cient Cilicia westward beyond Tarsus. Antakia (Antiochia), 
on the Orontes, was the capital of all the provinces, and still 
the wealthiest and most populous eastern city of the Empire. 

205. V. Al Djesirah — Mesopotaniia — was likewise lost for 
the empire immediately after Syria, with all its important cities : 
Edessa (Roha, Orfa), KAHKiE (Charran), Nisibis (Nesbin), 
the celebrated frontier fortress. Amida (Diarbekir), afterwards 
the capital, took this name in consequence of the early coloniza- 
tion of the three Arab tribes, Bekvi\ Blodar, and Rabia, among 
which Mesopotamia was divided, and called in its different 
parts Dejar Bekir, Dejar Modar, and Dejar Rabia.^' 

206. VI. Dejar Me'sr — Egypt — one of the most import- 
ant provinces of the Caliphate, which was conquered by the 
general Amer-Ben-Alas in 640, during the war with Persia. 
It was subdivided into El Bahari (the ancient Delta), Kihi 
or Said (middle and part of ujjper Egypt), and El Wahat or 
the land of the Oasis in the Libyan Desert. Faramiah (Pe- 
lusium), on the Mediterranean, north of the Isthmus of Suez, 
was the first town which Amer ( Aniru) took, when the Caliph 
Omar sent him against Egypt in 640. Miszr, the ancient 
Memphis, on the western bank of the Nile, at that time the 
most important city after Alexandria. It defended itself 
bravely, and could only be taken by treachery, after a fearful 
siege of seven months ; it was so totally destroyed that Omar 
built a new town, El Fostat, on the eastern bank, and this too 
gave place three centuries later to the modern Cairo. Eskan- 
DERiAH (Alexandria) was likewise stormed and taken after a 
siege of fourteen months, which cost the Arabs 20,000 warriors. 
Alexandria never rose to its former splendor. It was then 
that the great library is said to have been destroyed by the 
order of the Caliph Omar, although the story is hard to recon- 
cile with the silence of the original historians, or the condition 
in which the library had been left at the destruction of the 
temple of Serapis, where it was placed. All Egypt surrendered 
at the fall of Alexandria, which now became the granary of 
Arabia, as it formerly had been that of the Byzantine Empire. 
Its immense export of breadstuffs to Arabia was facilitated by 
the canal which placed the Nile in communication with the Red 
Sea, and which was repaired and restored by the Saracens. 

VII. Nubia was likewise invaded by the Arabs in 651, 
under the Caliphate of Othman, who obliged the Christian 
kings of that country to pay annually a tribute of a large 
number of Ethiopian slaves. 

207. VIII. Irak-Arabi (the ancient Babylonia), the cen- 
tral seat of the vast empire of the Sassanids, and which ex- 
tended from the banks of the Euphrates to those of the Indus, 
was the fourth conquest of the Arabs, who began their invasion 
of Persia at the time with that of Syria and the kingdom of 
Hira (203). Kadesiah, south of Hira, on the vast plain di- 
viding Arabia from the banks of the Euphrates, was, in 636, 
during three days, a witness to the tremendous efforts of the 
whole Persian power to defend their country and religion 
against the Mohammedan fanatics. Yet they were defeated 
with fearful slaughter, and the last Persian king, Yezdegerd, be- 
came a fugitive, and was' soon after killed on the banks of the 
Jaxartes. The Arabs now inundated all Irak-Arabi; Al 
Madein, or the two towns, Cic&iphon and Seleiicia, situ- 
ated over against each other, on the banks of the Didjfat 

" Al Djesirnh signifies the island, whieli answers to the Greek 
Mesopotamia, the region between the rivers. By inattention of the 
draughtsman, Bejnr has been placed in the map instead of Dejar (re- 
y:ion), hind. 



(Tigris), were the price of this victory. The proud Arabs 
after having plundered the immense riches and treasures of the 
Persian kings, hoarded in the capitals, set fire to the cities, 
and left not one stone upon another. Bagdad was afterwards 
built by the Abbasids, on the Tigris, from the ruins of Al- 
"Madein. Kufah, on the western bank of the Euphrates, 
obtained a great renown, as having for some time become the 
capital of the successors of Mohammed. It was in the mosque 
of that town that the venerable Ali, the fifth Caliph, was a.s- 
sassinated in 651. His sepulchre was then concealed from his 
mortal enemies, the Ommiyad tyrants of Syria, but in the 
fourth age of the Hedjra, a tomb, a temple, and a city arose 
near the ruins of Kufah. Many thousands of Alites — called 
Shiites or heretics — repose in holy ground at the feet of the Vicar 
of Grod, and the desert around is vivified by numerous and annual 
visits of the Persians, who esteem their devotion at All's shrine 
not less meritorious than the pilgrimage to Mekka. Bassorah or 
i?as;-a/«, toward the mouth of the Euphrates on the Persian Gulf, 
was founded by Omar, as a refuge for invalid warriors, and 
obtained a high reputation on account of its siritable commer- 
cial position. Near Bassorah was fought the battle of the camel, 
in which Ayesha, the widow of Mohammed, during her rebel- 
lion, was defeated and taken prisoner on her camel by the 
generous Ali in 654. But the most celebrated city of the 
Saracens in that region was the famous city of Bagdad — 
Moliammedia or Medina al Salavi, city of peace — founded 
by the Abbasid Caliph, El Mansiir, in 765, on the western 
bank of the Tigris, at some distance from the earlierParthian 
and Persian capitals, Seleucia, Ctesiphon, and Dastagerd, 
then lying in their ruins after their destruction by the Emperor 
Heraclius in 627. Bagdad became the capital of the Arabian 
Empire, and the Caliphs continued to reside there from El 
Mansur downto the last Caliph, Abdallah Mostassem Billah, who 
perished in 1258 under the sword of the Mongol Hulagu, 
Its population was immense, and the wealth of the East was 
hoarded within its walls. In the western quarter was the 
great bazaar El Karl-h, which, by a bridge, was united to the 
main part of the city. Asker el Serramenra (the charm- 
ing) was founded by Caliph Motassem Billah (the protected 
of God) in 842, twelve miles above Bagdad, as a splendid camp 
for the imperial life-guards, the Turkish mercenaries, who were 
thus kept separated from the mass of the Arabian population. 
The great palace there excited the wonder of the foreign am 
bassadors, and many Caliphs wasted their treasures on its em- 
bellishment. Kerbela, north of Hira, where Hossein, the sou 
of Ali, perished in battle against the revengeful Ommiyads in 
680. A splendid mosque arises on the spot ; pilgrims from 
Persia stream in on the annual festival of his martyrdom, kneel 
down at his sepulchre, and abandon their souls to the religious 
frenzy of sorrow and indignation. 

208. IX. Belad Laun (Armenia), north of the Kurdistan 
mountains, extended toward Bmn (x\sia Minor) on the west, 
and embraced the table-lands of Mount Ararat, and the head- 
waters of the Euphrates. Arzen Rum (Erzerum), on the Eu- 
phrates, and the important defile, Kali Kala, the only narrow 
passage toward the coast-lands of Tarabesonda (Trapezus), on 
the Euxine (Bahr Nitesh). Debil, the capital of the province, 
at the foot of Mount Ararat, near the modern Bajasid. 

X. Aran (now the Russian province of Grusia or Georgia), 
north of Armenia, on the river Kur (Cyrus), toward Mount 
Caucasus, though divided into the small valley districts of 
the Highlands, obeyed the Caliph of Bagdad. , Sharvan or 
Shirwan on the east, with the capital Berdha'a (Bakavi), on 
the Bahr Chozar, the Caspian Sea. Sarik, north, near the 
celebrated pass of Mount Caucasus, the Bab el Abivab (Der- 
bend), which had been strongly fortified by the Greek emperors 
to stem the incursions of the roving Khazars north of the sea. 



FOURTH PERIOD.— ABBASIDS OF BAGDAD— AGLABIDS IN KAIROUAN. 



51 



Another pass, Forta Casjnce, descended between the highest 
peaks, Elboras and Kasbek, toward Tiflis, the capital of 
KoRDSHiSTAN (Georgia). This was the frontier province bor- 
dering on the Allaui and Khazars. 

209. XI. Adjerbeidjan (the ancient Atropatene, in Me- 
dia), south of Aran, extended to the shores of the Caspian, 
and was, after Irak-Arabi, one of the first provinces brought 
into subjection by the Mohammedans, who with fire and 
sword exterminated the Sabeans here in the centre of their fire 
worship. Siiiz (the ancient Phra'ata), in the south, was the 
most important city. Ormijah, on the Bahr Kendan — the lake 
Spauta, was the birth-place of Zer-Dusht (Zoroaster), the 
apostle of the Sabaism ; Tabriz (the ancient Gandsak), Ar- 
DEBiL became in 704 a thriving Mohammedan town. 

XII. DiLEM (Gilan), on the southwestern shores of the 
Bahr Chozar. 

XIII. T aberistan, with Eoms and Damghan in the interior, 
and Mazandaran on the southern coast of the Caspian, with 
the cities of Ainol and Asterabad. 

210. XIV. Arak or ^efofl? aZZ?;'e5a?7 (the ancient Media), 
on the east of Mount Elvend, was conquered by the Arabs in 742. 
Here lay Hamadan (the ancient Ekbatana), which was taken 
by the Arabs on their sudden appearance beyond the mountains. 
Nehavend, south of Hamadan, where the Persians suffered 
the last great defeat, which opened all the eastern countries 
as far as the Sihun (Jaxartes), and the Sind (Indus), to their 
victorious arms. Aspahan (Aspadana), now Ispahan, south- 
east of Hamadan, was built by the Sassanid princes, and be- 
came afterwards the capital of the modern Persian kingdom. 
Ray or Mohammedia (the ancient Rhagae, where Alexander 
overtook the expiring Darius), was an important defile opening 
on the immense Parthian plains towards Khorasan. In the 
mountains of Rudbar arose the terrible sect of the Assassins, 
and their mysterious chief, the Old Man of the Mountain. 

211. XV. Khusistan (the ancient Susiaua), east of Irak- 
Arabi, was occupied by the Arabs the same year as Arak Ad- 
jemi. It touched the Bahr el Fars or the Persian Gulf, and 
had the important town of Shush, and Tuster the ancient 
Susa, which both made a gallant resistance. Ahwaz on the 
Choaspes, and Ramhormuz, became flourishing Arabian cities. 

XVI. l^ARS—Fa?-s2stan—ihe ancient Pars, Persis, the cradle 
of Cyrus and the conquering Persians. Istakhar, Persepolis, 
neai- the Araxes, the ancient Persian capital, was still a consi- 
derable city, where the unhappy Yezdegerd in vain made a last 
desperate stand in the impenetrable mountains of his ancestors. 
SiRAF, on the Persian gulf,^^ had an important harbor, and a 
lively trade with India. The more eastern provinces of the 
Caliphate of Bagdad, which are less important for our present 
purpose, but may easily be found on every modern map of Asia, 
were the following : 

212. XVII. Khorasan, northeast of Farsistan ; XVIII. 
Sedjestan, on the river Hindmend, the homestead of the cele- 
brated hero Rustan ; XIX. Kerman ; XX. Maicran, with 
the cities Nichabovr, Herat, Balk (Bactra), and Merv-al- 
Rud, the ancient Alexandria Margiana. East of the Caspian, and 
north of the Djiliun (Oxus), lay XXI. Khowaresm — Choras- 
mia; and XXII. Maw ar-al-Nahr, the ancient Sogdiana, be- 
yond the Oxus, which the Arabs for a length of time hesi- 
tated to cross : both provinces were however occupied in 707- 
710, and thus arrived on the frontiers of Turkistan, the Arabs 
came in hostile contact with the Tchang, or Chinese, who in 
vain attempted to drive the Mohammedans back over the 
Djiliun. The last Persian king, Yezdegerd, having perished 
by the daggers of his faithless mercenaries, the gallant Ko- 
taibah (the camel driver) now reduced all the countries be- 

■''■■ By the Arabs called Bahr Alakdhar, the Green Sea. 



tweeu the Caspian, the Jaxartes, and Mount Muztag, which 
for centuries remained the frontier against the Chinese empire. 
Bukhara and Sariarkand, east of Bukhara, were both stormed 
and taken by Kotaibah, who built there magnificent mosques, 
and the immense bazaars which remained the centre of the 
flourishing traffic of the Arabs with China and India. But 
the enthusiastic Mussulmans did not stop here ; like Alexan- 
der the Great, they continued their march eastward, through 
XXIII. Zabulishan (now Afghanistan), and crossing the In- 
dus (Sind), reduced XXI Y. the Multan, and.MANSURA (Scin- 
dy),onits eastern banks, in 7 10, when civil disturbances at home, 
the downfall of the Ommiyad dynasty, and the formation of 
the western Caliphate of Cordova, in Spain, put a stop to 
their eastern conquests. Thus then had the Arabs, in less 
than a century, founded a dominion vaster than that of Alex- 
ander, or -even that of the Romans. The Caliphs themselves 
had taken no part in these conquests ; they remained invisible 
in the interior of their seraglios, where their early simplicity 
and virtue gave way to the corrupting influences of sensuality 
and sloth. The Arabs, tired of destroying, began to rebuild 
the ruined cities; smiling gardens arose on the slopes of the 
mountains ; the plains were cultivated and adorned with de- 
lightful country-seats ; the mosques, bazaars, and palaces of the 
Caliphs, were built in that beautiful style of Saracenic archi- 
tecture, which afterwards struck the European crusaders with 
wonder and admiration. The Arab empire reached its culmi- 
nating height of political power, cultivation, commerce, litera- 
ture and art, during the age of Charlemagne, and the reign of 
the Caliph Haroun-ar-Raschid (the Just), from 786-809, when 
the great schisms in the Mohammedan faith, the rebellions of 
the provinces, and the rise of difierent heresies and dynasties, 
first began to threaten the dissolution of the Saracenic empire. 

B. — Kingdom of the Aglabids in Kairouan. 

213. The northern coast of Africa, west of Egypt, had 
been conquered by the Arabs, between the years 640 and 710, 
under continual insurrections of the native Christians. The 
possession of that extensive country was at last secured by the 
foundation of Kairw'an, or Kairouan, in 674, and divided into 
the two provinces, Magrab al Ausah, i-ad JSIagrab al Aksa 
(the near and distant Africa). Musa, the active governor or 
Wall of the Caliph Walid I., sent his general Tarik with ca- 
valry, across the Straits, and Spain, in 711, fell an easy con- 
quest to the Mohammedan arms. But forty-four years later, the 
successful Ommiyad rebellion in that country, excited the 
Wall of Kairouan, Ibraldin-Ebn- Aglab, to follow the ex- 
ample, and thus arose the kingdom of the Aglabids, who sus- 
tained their independence against the Caliphs of Bagdad, by 
mercenary armies of negroes and Berbers, until the year 908, 
when the last Aglabid was defeated by Obeidallah, a de- 
scendant of Mohammed by his daughter Fatima. This chief 
founded in Egypt the celebrated dynasty of the Fatimid Caliphs 
in Cairo. 

Cities. — Tarabolos (Tripolis), on the great Syrtis, was 
taken by the Arabs in 642. Jakubi, near Cabes on the smaller 
Syrtis, where the total defeat of the Romans caused the loss 
of Carthage, and all the flourishing Christian cities westward to 
Sebtah(Ceuta), and the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. Carthage 
had resisted ; it was taken by the Arabs in 697 ; retaken the 
same year by the Greeks, then lost again, and in 698 totally de- 
stroyed by the infuriated Moslems. Carthage never rose from its 
ashes, and the few ruins left on its desolated coast, prove that 
all the materials for building have been carried away for the 
erection of Kairouan, the new colony and capital of the Sara 
cens in Africa. This city is situated in the interior of the 



52 



FOURTH PERIOD.— EDRISITES—OMMIYADS—&OTHIA. 



ancient province of Byzacium, at a distance of one hundred miles 
south of Carthage, and thirty-six west of Hammamet, its harbor 
on the sea-shore. Kairouan was quickly peopled with Berbers 
and Moors, who flocked to the bauners of the Caliph, and be- 
came ready converts to the Mohammedan faith ; and it thus 
became the great emporium for Northern Africa, during the 
Middle Ages. Bizerta, the ancient Hippo Zarytos, and Bo- 
na, Hippo Regius, were the last cities in this part of Africa 
which remained in the possession of the Grreeks. In the west, 
Chulu, Caesarea, and some maritime fortresses, offered a still 
longer resistance, but were all at last obliged to surrender. 

C. — III. Kingdom of the Edrisites in Mequines. 

214. Edris-Ben-Edris, a descendant of AH, fled from the 
snares of Haroun-ar-Raschid, and excited a rebellion in the 
western province, Magrab-al-Aksa^ where the Mohammedan 
Moors and Berbers elected him king, in 788. His son built 
Faz (Fez), and Mequines (Marokko), the former of which be- 
came a flourishing city, and the latter gave its name to the 
young Mohammedan state. Septa or Sebtah (now Ceuta) was 
a strong fortress, which the Visigoths of Spain held in posses- 
sion on the African coast of the Straits. It was so well de- 
fended, that it stopped all the efforts of the Arabs to cross the 
strait, until the treachery of Covmt Julian, as is well known, 
opened to the Arabs the passage for the destruction of the 
Gothic Empire. 

D. — IV. Emirate of Cordova. 

215. Taric succeeded in landing on the promontory of 
Calpe with only five hundred horsemen, in 710. The bold- 
ness and success of his enterprise brought their reward in the 
name given afterwards to the promontory. Mount of Tarik, or 
Djebel-Taric (Gibraltar). The last Gothic king, Roderic, 
having gathered the entire host of the Visigoths, but without 
receiving any assistance from Europe, attacked the Arabs on 
the Wady-al-Ete (Guadalete), near Sherish (Xeres), where he 
fell, and the Goths suffered a total defeat in 711. The nume- 
rous Jews declared for the Arabs, who immediately were fol- 
lowed by myriads of Moors and Berbers from Africa. Every 
where defeated, the dispirited Visigoths fled to the Asturian 
mountains. The cities that surrendered were granted capitula- 
tion ; those which defended themselves were levelled to the 
ground. Musa came himself, with 26,000 choice troops, and 
completed the conquest of Taric. The "Wall Ejub made Cor- 
dova the residence of the Arabian government. The only 
Christian prince who made a stand was Theodemir of Lorca, 
on the coast of Murcia ; he, however, was obliged to pay tri- 
bute. Thousands of Christians became Mohammedans ; 
and it appeared as if the Moslem would now carry the Koran 
and the crescent all over Europe. The Arabian government 
was very simple : the provinces were governed by "Walls; un- 
der these stood the Alkaldes. The Emir, or general governor, 
had a council, or aduana of counsellors — mexetvares. Emir 
Okba introduced this system in 737. Judges [Kadis] were 
placed in every village, and their judicial activity was most se- 
verely controlled. The Wali, in the provinces, had an armed 
body called Kaxiefes, or gendarmes. Schools and mosques were 
established; roads laid out; and commerce and agriculture soon 
began to flourish. Abd-er-Rahman, the fugitive Ommiyad, 
raised the banner of rebellion in 755. Seville received him 
with joy ; he gathered an army, defeated near Musara the 
Emir Jusuf, and achieved his independence in 759. 

216. Division and Cities. — The Emirate of Cordova was 
divided into six provinces under military walls, Tholaithala 



(Toledo), Marida (Merida), Valencia, SAEAGosTHA(Zaragos- 
sa), Andalos (Andalusia), and Narbuna (Narbonne) ; twelve 
other walls, all with their viziers, or lieutenants, besides the ka- 
dis and mexewares, formed the aduana, somewhat similar to 
the mallum (79, 118) of the Goths and Franks. The progress of 
the Arabs under the active and intelligent Emirs of Cordova, 
was extraordinary ; they crossed the Pyrenees, and added the 
beautiful province of Narbuna to their empire. The battle of 
Tours, with Charles the Hammer, at last put a permanent 
stop to their conquests in 732, and the Gothic chiefs in the 
Asturian mountains soon began to extend their dominion to 
the river Duero. All the plains along that river, then the 
general battle-field between Christians and Moslems, were 
called Campi Gothici, and being left incult, formed a dreary 
wilderness between the hostile nations. 

Tholaithala (Toledo), on the Tagus, surrendered, like the 
other cities, to the victorious Arabs, and preserved its privi- 
leges as capital of the African Viceroy, until the time when 
CoRDHOBA (Cordova), on the Wady al Kebir (Guadalquiver), 
became the seat of the new Mussulman Caliphate. The Bal- 
earic Islands were likewise occupied by the Arabs, who from 
thence extended their piracies over all the coasts of Italy and 
France ; nay, they even landed and built a castle at Fraxinetum, 
on the rugged coast between Nizza and Ventimiglia, at the 
base of the Maritime Alps, in 889. They massacred the in- 
habitants of the neighborhood, and built a castle upon the 
rocks commanding the entrance of the gulf. This was the 
origin of the formidable republic of Saracen pirates, who, from 
the bay of Fraxinetum, extended their incursions throughout 
Provence and Dauphiny ; nay, the Saracens held possession of 
the passes of the Alps ; they united with the Hungarians to 
ravage Helvetia and Valais, of which they remained masters 
for several years. They then crossed the mountains, and in- 
vading the plain of Piedmont, they burnt Acqui and ravaged 
the banks of the Padus ; and it was not until the year 975 that 
the Count of Provence at last succeeded in retaking Fraxine- 
tum with the immense booty which the Saracens had hoarded 
up there. 

Islam had arrived at its zenith ; it was the time of the 
brilliant Mohammedan civilization of Spain (in Arabic, Anda- 
los). The palm of the desert rose at the side of the products 
of the west. Spain became the most populous and industrious 
country in Europe. Cordova was the seat of arts and litera- 
ture ; seventy libraries and seventeen academies and colleges 
opened abundant sources of instruction ; questions of philosophy, 
science, or poetry, were discussed in the literary societies. The 
large cities, Toledo, Merida, Seville, Zaragoza, Valencia, El- 
bira (Granada), vied with Cordova in wealth and splendor ; 
four hundred cities of inferior rank were enriched by com- 
merce ; on the banks of the Guadalquiver alone were scattered 
twelve hundred hamlets, embowered in vineyards and olive- 
groves. 



V. INDEPENDENT CHRISTIAN STATES IN SPAIN 
ABOUT A. D. 800. 

217. Kingdom of Gothia or Oviedo. — The Saracens and 
their allies, the Moors, were still strangers on the soil of Spain. 
After the death of King Roderic and the defeat of the Visi- 
goths at Xeres, the wrecks of that nation who disdained sub- 
mission to the victorious Moslems, fled to the mountains of 
Asturia ; these were chiefly the nobles and clergy. . From the 
Pyrenees, an extensive chain of high and rugged mountains 
(the Mons Vindius of the ancients) stretches westward to 
Cape Finisterre, the extreme headland of Gallicia. Auseba, 
one of those towering pinnacles of difiicult access, afibrded re- 



FIFTH PERIOD.— IRELAND— SCOTLAND. 



53 



fuge to the fleeing bands of some thousand Goths who sought hid- 
ing-phxces in the caverns of our Lady of Cabadonga, where they 
elected Pelayo, a distinguished warrior, as their chieftain, a. b. 
718. The early traditions about the origin of the modern Spanish 
dynasties are not free from th^ exaggerations of national vanity ; 
yet Asturia enjoys, as the ancient asylum of the noble Goths, 
certain liberties which had no other origin than the achieve- 
ments of her sons; and the hamlet Gegio (Gijon), on the coast, 
scarcely observed by the Moslem enemy, became the cradle of 
a lasting monai-chy, which grew to manhood among the moun- 
tains. There, protected by the high range of Auseba, the 
Christians began the long and arduous struggle, which, in spite 
of many reverses, at last, after the vicissitudes of seven centu- 
ries, was crowned with complete success, the reconquest of the 
magnificent peninsula, and the expulsion of the infidels. The 
Visigoth nation had become degenerated under the mild climate 
of Spain, yet the awful political calamities which had befallen 
them now steeled their courage and exalted their virtue ; and soon 
they broke forth from their strongholds. Alfonso I. reconquered 
Gallicia in 750, and Troila made himself master of Oviedo in 
759. The expeditions of Charlemagne beyond the Pyrenees, 
and the rebellions of the Saracenic walis or governors on the 
Ebro, encouraged the Goths, who then, toward the year 850, 
after the brilliant victory over the Arabs at Logrono, extended 
their dominion south of the mountains. 

Such was the condition of the world in the era of Charle- 
magne. 



CHAPTER VI. 

EUROPE, 

WESTERN ASIA AND NORTHERN AFRICA ; THEIR POLITI- 
CAL GEOGRAPHY AT THE DEATH OF THE EMPEROR 
OTHO THE GREAT, A. D. 973.'^ 

218. General Division. — During the period from the 
coronation of Charlemagne, a. d. 800, to the death of Otho the 
Great toward the close of the tenth century, great changes had 
taken place in the institutions, the manners, and the political 
relations of the states and nations in the old world. The 
mighty empires of Charlemagne and of Haroun-ar-Raschid had 
been shivered to fragments ; and we find in the year 973, in 
Europe, no less than nineteen independent and more or less 
powerful states; while the Mohammedan Empire of the Caliphs 
had then become divided among a greater number of sectarian 
or heretical dynasties and rebellious Mohammedan tribes, than 
we can find space to describe. Of the nineteen states in Eu- 
rope, seven were situated in the north. They were — I., the 
kingdoms in Ireland; II., the kingdom of Scotland; III., 
that of the Anglo-Saxons va. England ; IV., that of Den- 
mark ; v., that of Norivay ; VI., that of Siveden ; and VII., 
the Grand-Duchy of Russia. Five in central Europe: VIII., 
the kingdom of France ; IX., that of Burgundy ; X., the Ko- 
mano- Germanic Yim^\x&\ XL, the kingdom of Hung aria ; 
and XIL, the Chanate off the Petcheneges. Seven in the south 
of Europe : XIII. the kingdom of Leon; XIV., the county 
of Castile; XV., the kingdom of Navarra; XVI. the caliph- 
ate of Cordova ; XVII. , the emirate of Sicily and the smaller 
islands; XVIII. , the kingdom of Croatia; and XIX., the 
Byzantine or eastern Roman empire. 

This being the period during which France and Germany 
became split into so many almost independent feudal seignio- 
ries, we have thought it desirable to go into some detail by 

" See Map No. 4. 



giving the Latin names of the French counties, &c., then in 
use, and their modern appellation; and by delineating the 
different nationalities in the duchies of Germany ; nor do we 
hesitate to present the student with the names of the later pro- 
vinces (themes) of the Eastern Empire, in the Byzantine 
Greek language, because an accurate description of the East, 
and some etymological hints on the provincial names, may per- 
haps tend the better to explain the annexed map of the tenth 
century, and render its study more interesting. 

\ I. NORTHERN EUROPE. 

I. KiNGDOBis IN Ireland. 

219. Inhabitants and Remarkable Cities. — Toward the 
close of the tenth century we still find Ireland divided into the 
four petty kingdoms of Ultonia (Ulster), Connacia (Con- 
naught), Momonia (Munster), and Lagenia (Leinster), which 
recognized the supremacy of the sovereign King of Midia 
(Meath). The civil feuds among the more powerful Canfinnies 
(100) still continued, and the savage manners of the Irish clans 
stood in the most singular contrast to the learning and piety 
of the monks in the numerous convents and monasteries 
which contributed so much to the propagation of Christianity 
in the north. The landed property belonged in the mass to 
the clans, and the Canfinny was the liege-lord ; the succes- 
sion was elective, and never settled without bloodshed. Seve- 
ral clans, such as the O' Connors and O'Neals, had already 
a prepondez-ating influence. The people were poor and bar- 
barous, and agriculture was still neglected. The Danes and 
Norwegians, from their piratical settlements on the Hebrides 
and Orkney islands in the seventh century, began already their 
devastating descents upon the eastern coast of Ireland. Nay, 
they founded several independent states on the southern coast, 
with Waterford and Dueseford (Wexford), as their strong- 
holds. On the west they occupied Luimnich (Limerick), and 
we read in Snorro Sturleson, the Icelandic historian, the ex- 
ploits of Thorgils and Erode, the sons of King Harald, the 
fairhaired of Norway, who, with their fleets, took possession of 
Dyflin (Dublin), where Thorgils for long years ruled as king, 
until he fell in battle against the Irish.^* Teamor or Tamora, 
in the kingdom of Meath, was the principal city of the Irish, 
where the clans met in their confederate diets. Armagh (100) 
continued to be the ecclesiastical metropolis of Ireland. Its 
numerous monasteries were celebrated for their learning and 
austere discipline. Hundreds of zealous monks accompanied 
the Norwegian Prince Olaf Tryggveson in his expedition to 
Norway in 995, where they, under many dangers and priva- 
tions, laid the foundation of a higher civilization, by the first 
introduction of Christianity in Nidaros (Throndhjem). Cor- 
CA.GIA, CImirke (Cork), in Munster, was already an important 
commercial city. 

II. Kingdom of Scotland. 

220. Extent and Principal Cities. — -The early history 
of Scotland is enveloped in total darkness : it would have been 
interesting to know the historic facts connected with the union 
of two so entirely difi'erent nationalities as those of the Gaelic or 
Celtic Scots, and the Scandinavian or Gothic Picts (101), under 
the crown of King Kenneth 11.,°' in 843, which is supposed to 

^' See the saga of Harald Haarfager, chap, xxxv., in Samuel Laing's 
beautiful translation of the Heims Kringla or Chronicle of the Kings of 
Norway. London, 1844. Vol. I., page 304. 

^° From the register of Saint Andrew's we learn that the Scottish 
Kings, from Kenneth 11. down to Edgar, 1098, were buried in Hyona 
or I-colm-kiU (101). After that period Dunfermline was the place of 
royal sepulture. 



54 



FIFTH PElilOD.— SCOTLAND— ENGLAND— DENMARK. 



have given bivth to tlie more modern kingdom of Scotland. Yet 
the truth is, that the light of history begins much later to dawn 
on the misty Highlands of Scotland. Danes were settled on 
the northeastern part of the island called Caif/iness. King 
Indulf vanquished them at Cullen, but coirld not make them 
quit the island. Edinburgh became early the capital ; Scone 
on the northwest, where the great battle took place, in conse- 
quence of which King Kenneth was enabled to unite the two 
realms of the Picts and Scots. His castle was afterwards the 
residence of the Scottish Kings, several of whom were crowned 
there. 



IIL — Kingdom of England. 

221. Extent, Condition, and Remarkable Cities. — 
King Egbert of West-Sex had in a. d. 828 subdued the other 
states of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy (104). The stool-kings 
of the old dynasties, sprung from Odin, were extinct, and Eng- 
land had obtained a unity and internal tranquillity which was 
essentially favorable to the moral cultivation of the Anglo- 
Saxon nation, and the development of their national institu- 
tions. The Britons in North Wales were vanquished, the 
island of Mona (Anglesea) conquered, and only the kings of 
Cumberland and Strathclyde (103) maintained their indepen- 
dence until about 950, when they were replaced by dependent 
counts. King iBthelstan (924-941) subjected the princes of 
Wales to a tribute of cattle, which Edgar (959-975), after a 
successful invasion of North Wales, changed into the yearly 
delivery of three hundred heads of wolves. This beneficial 
exaction caused the speedy destruction of these beasts through- 
out the island. Edgar armed war-ships, and defeating the 
Danes in Ireland, he took Dublin, the first acquisition of the 
Anglo-Saxon kings beyond their own territory. Thus the whole 
southern portion of the island, northward to the Tweed and Cum- 
berland, belonged to the English crown. The last distinction 
between the old Saxon Seven States disappears entirely under 
Alfred (871-901), and England is forthwith divided into 
shires and hundreds governed by earls and earldormen. The 
Frank pledge — -frithbotlt — gave a mutual security to the com- 
munities, and the ancient Roman military roads an easy com- 
munication between the different parts of the state. These 
remarkable high roads were, 1 , the Ermings Straide, from Do- 
ver and Canterbury, running north through Stamford to Lin- 
coln and Winteringham on the Humber ; 2, the Foss- TVceg 
(ditch-way), running southwest from Lincoln by Cirencester 
to Exeter in Cornwall ; and 3, the celebrated Wcetlinga 
StrcBde, running northwest from London through Tamworth 
to Shrewsbury and Offa's dike, at the base of the hills of 
Wales. The latter (Watling-street) was the boundary between 
the Danes and English, in the treaty between J^]lfred and Guth- 
rum the Dane, in 890, according to which Northumberland 
and East Anglia were ceded to the Scandinavian invaders. 

The piracies of the Northmen had begun already, in the 
time of King Egbert, to become troublesome to the inhabit- 
ants on the coasts ; soon they took the character of regular 
maritime expeditions of the daring sea-kings of Scandinavia, 
who, in spite of the victories of the glorious Alfred in 897, 
succeeded in forming independent states on the eastern coast, 
and a century later (1016), to bring the whole island under 
the sway of King Knud (Canute) of Denmark. Lundenwyc, 
London, on the Thames, the capital of the kingdom, was 
already a populous, commercial, and wealthy city, which had 
been enlarged and embellished by .Alfred ; the old St. Paul's 
Church was built in 604, on the first introduction of Chris- 
tianity among the Saxons by St. Austin, and numerous con- 
vents and monasteries in every part of the city gave proof of 



the rapid change its mild doctrines had produced in the ideas and 
habits of that wild and heathen nation (104). Cantavarabueh 
(Canterbury) was the great metropolis of the Anglican Church, 
and its Archbishops knew full well to extend their influence 
and their privileges among the devout Edgars and ^thelreds. 
Oxnaford (Oxford) was already celebrated as the seat of 
learning. Eoforwyk (York) was the capital of Northumber- 
land, the centre of the Danish power. Beunanburh, near 
Lincoln, where the terrible battle was fought in which iEthel 
stan, in 938, totally defeated the Northumbrian Dane Anlaf 
(01af),and his Scottish auxiliaries. Cruland (Croyland), the 
celebrated monastery in Mereia, which the savage Danes plun- 
dered and burnt in 870, after the defeat of Osgood of 
Lincoln."" 

iETHLiNGA-EiG (Atlieluey), the Isle of Princes, the fortress 
in Somersetshire, near Taunton, where iElfred the Great hid 
himself in the forest and the surrounding swamps, and pre- 
pared for his attack on the Danes.*" Ethandxjn (now Edding- 
ton near AYestbury), where .Alfred so brilliantly defeated the 
Danes, baptized their sea-king Guthrum, and restored the in- 
dependence of England in 878. The Scilly Islands, by the 
ancients called Cassiterides or Sylince Insulce, were during 
this period brought under the dominion of the English kings, 
and what is more important, it was in this quiet retreat of 
monastic seclusion that the Norwegian sea-king Olaf Tiyggve- 
son, known in the history of England by the name of Anlaf, 
received baptism in 993, and from thence introduced Chris- 
tianity into Norway and Iceland, by means of the zealous 
English missionaries whom he brought along with him. 

The island of Man — Monarina, Moiiapia Insula — in the 
Irish Channel, had become the seat of another Norwegian 
sea-king, who united the Hebrides on the west coast of Scot- 
land, and the Orkney Islands — Orcades Lisulce — into a 
powerful kingdom, so conveniently situated as naval stations 
for the daring Norwegian Vi-kings, who thence extended their 
piratical invasions over all the neighboring coasts of Ireland 
and Great Britain. 



IV. — Kingdom of Denmark. 
222. Extent, Conversion, and Consolidation.- 



During the 9th century the north of Europe began to pass 
from the state of fermentation and disorder, which had' pre- 
vailed in all its countries,, into a more peaceable and orderly 
condition. It was the beneficial influence of Christianity 
which mainly contributed to produce this great revolution. 
The Christian religion became the point of union that, like the 
electric spark, roused the nations of the north from their long 
sleep of ignorance. The first authentic information we obtain 
from Denmai'k is that of the pious and devoted Ansgar, or 
Ansgarius, the Apostle of Scandinavia, who in a. d. 826 ac- 
companied the first Christian Dane, Harald Klak, the under- 
king of South Jutland — then an exile at the court of Louis-le- 
Debonnair — back to Denmark, and built the church at Schles- 
'wig. Ansgar and his monks visited King Biorn in Sweden, 
where, with the support of a distinguished Swede, Hergier, 
they built the first Christian church on the banks of the B'lce- 
larn (190). From his see in Schleswig Ansgar now strength- 
ened his missionary army with enthusiastic brothers from 
Germany and France, and preaching publicly in Danish, he 

"" See the detailed and characteristic accouut of these events in 
Sharon Turner's History of the Anglo-Saxons, Vol. I., page 509 et seq. 

^' This interesting spot at the confluence of the Parret river with 
the Tlione, is exactly known, not only from tradition, but from a gold- 
en enamelled ornament found there, exhibiting the name of Alfred by 
an inscription : " Alfred het meh geioircan" — Alfred ordered me to be 
wrought. 



FIFTH PERIOD.— DENMARK— NORWAY. 



55 



gathered multitudes around him, and secured his spiritual eon- 
quest by the establishiueut of the Archbishopric in Hamburg 
in 830. Attacked by a fleet of savage Vi-kings in 845, he 
retired to Bremen^ where he met a deputation of Jutes, who 
conducted him safely to Ribe (Ripen), on the west coast of 
Jutland. There he built and consecrated the cathedral church 
iu 858, and having gloriously fulfilled his mission of laying a 
solid foundation for the civilization of the north, he died iu 
Biemen in 865, revered by all, and later canonized by the 
Pope as the great Apostle of Denmark. A few years later 
King Gorm the Old (Grorm den Gramle) of the Danish Islands, 
succeeded in subduing the petty states of Jutland, and secured 
the southern frontiers 'of his united kingdom by extension of 
the Daunevirke (work of the Danes) from the bay of Schleswig 
westward to the North-Eider, the boundary of the Carlovin- 
gian empire. The integral parts of Denmark then consisted 
of 1, Jutland, divided by the Kojigeaa (king's river) into 
North Jutland (Relt Grothlaud) and South Jutland (Schles- 
wig), comprising on the east the ancient Anglen, the home- 
stead of the Angles in Britain, and on the west Nocth Feies- 
LAND, inhabited by the Frisian fishermen ; 2, the Danish 
Islands (Ey Gothland) ; 3, Skaane (Scandia, Skaney) in 
southern Sweden, and divided into the three ancient provinces, 
Halland, northwest on the Kattegat ; Blekinga-ey, north- 
east, on the Warceger-Soe, East Sea, or Baltic ; and Skaane 
Froper^ the southern point of the great Scandinavian Penin- 
sula. All the provinces were divided into Sysler (shires), and 
Herreder (hundreds), governed by the Jarh (earls), who, with 
the Bonder (freemen), met the king at the Tinge (national 
diet), where public aifairs were transacted, and the kings and 
chiefs elected by acclamation of the people. King Gorm felt 
himself strong enough to cross the Eider and invade Nordal- 
bingia (Holstein), then a province of the duchy of Saxony. 
The Danes were defeated, and Henry I. the Fowler, established 
the March or margraviate of Schleswig, between the Eider 
and the Schley— the limes Daniciis^ as it is called by the 
chroniclers, which for nearly a century remained the battle- 
ground of the hostile Danish and Saxon borderers. Otho the 
Great crossed the Dannevirke in 970, overran all Jutland, and 
.forced King Harald Bluetooth, the son of Gorm, to be bap- 
tized, and grant the monks the liberty to convert his subjects 
throughout the kingdom. 

Cities and Historical Places. — Haddeby [Slias-ivyk), 
Schleswig, with the first Episcopal church ranging under the 
see of Hamburg. Silbersted, north of Schleswig, where 
king Bluetooth was defeated by Otho in a great battle, and 
baptized in the brook, which, after these great events, was 
called Hellig-bsek, or Holy Brook.*'' Ripa (Ribe), Viburgum 
(Viborg), Arosia (Aarhuus), and Burglanum (Borgland), 
became later episcopal sees of the province of Lund. Jel- 
LiNGE, with the barrows of king Gorm, and his Christian 
queen, Thyra Danebod. The magnificent sepulchral room of 
the queen has lately been excavated, and highly interesting 
antiquities, shrines, silver goblets, and golden figures of birds 
found. ^^ 

Otten Sund (Sound of Otho), a bay on the Liimfiord, in 

"" It was on the banks of Hellig-bfek, that the Danes, in 18.50 
gained the battle of Idsted against the rebellious Holsteiners. 

''^ The Runic inscriptions from these mounds are among the oldest 
and most important documents of Danish history. The smaller sepul- 
chral stone (Bautasteen), has the following -.— King Oorm made this hill 
after his wife, Thyre Banmarkshod. The larger Jelling stone has been 
erected by the son and successor, Harald Bluetooth, to the mem- 
ory of his parents r—Z'mf/ Harald raised these hills after his father 
Oorm and his mother Thyre. Tfds Harold is he who loon all Denmark, 
and Norway, and Christendom; that is, became a Christian, together 
with his people. 



Northern Jutland, where the Emperor Otho, in the pursuit of 
the retiring Danes, found himself stopped by the frith, and in 
his rage at not being able to cross over, launched his spear 
into the water, and returned to Germany. Odense, in the 
Lsland of Fyen (Odins-ey), a thriving city, with an episcopal 
see. Roe's Kilde, on the island of Sjolund (Sjselland, Sea- 
la-nd, HcrthcB Insula), the more modern capital of Denmark, 
from the times of king Harald, is situated at a short distance 
from the heathen Leire, and the forest of Hertha, witb the 
splendid cathedral church, and the Episcopal see for Sealand. 
BuRGTiNDARHOLM (Bomliolm), a fertile island south of Skaane, 
which during the middle ages became an important emporium 
of eastern commerce. In a bog on this island was found 
no less than half a bushel of Cufic or Arabian coins (207), with the 
inscriptions of the Caliphs of Bagdad, from a. d. 698 to 1010, 
which were current in the countries through which the North- 
men had to pass on their way to Constantinople. Lund, in 
Skaane, became in 1090 the archiepiscopal see for the Pro- 
vincia Liondensis, embracing all Denmark and Esthland. 



Y. Kingdom of Norway. 

223. Extent, Division, and Historical Sites. — The 
Icelandic Sagas have thrown a wonderful light on the early 
history of Norway, and the Norwegian Bonde (free land- 
owner), can, with the admirable book of Snorro Sturleson be- 
fore him, at the fireside, during the long winter evenings, fol- 
low up the events of his forefathers in every valley, on every 
mountain, where still so many rough nionuments of the olden 
times testify to the historical veracity of the poetical tradi- 
tions of the Skjalds.^^ The great Scandinavian peninsula is by 
a higb mountain range, the Kjolen, divided into two distinct 
countries, Swerge [S'weden), and Norge {Norivay). The 
centre of both countries is very rugged and mountainous, 
but in Sweden the mountains slope ofi^ southward, to the im- 
mense lakes of Wenern and Wettern, and the fertile plains of 
Skaane ; while on the contrary, in Norway, the slope lies 
north, terminating with the precipitous promontory of North 
Cape. These upper highlands are scantily" inhabited by 
the nomadic tribes of Finns and Laplanders, who, by the 
warlike Germanic invaders, were driven northward at the time 
of the first occupation of Scandinavia by the Goths. (86.) 
Though Norway is more mountainous than Sweden, and all its 
coasts are high — sometimes more than a thousand feet of fear- 
ful precipices, overhanging the deep friths, the islands and the 
sea, yet its climate is, on account of the neighborhood of the 
ocean, milder than that of the lower coasts of Sweden, 

'^* See the pi-efaee of Snovro himself, to his "Sagas of the Norse 
Kings." "In this book," he says, "I have had old traditions written 
down, as I have heard them told by intelligent people, concerning chiefs 
who have held dominion in the northern countries, and who spoke the 
Danish tongue — Danske Tunge — and also concerning some of their fam- 
ily branches, according to what has been told me. Some of these ac- 
counts are found in the genealogical tables of our forefathers, while the 
rest are taken from old songs, which at the time were recited for the 
pleasure of the chiefs at their banquets. There were Skjalds (bards) 
in the couit of Harald the Fair-haired (a. d. 863-931), whose poems the 
people know by heart even at the present day (Snorro wrote this about 
the j^ear 1220), together with all the songs about the kings who have 
ruled in Norway since his time. "We rest the foundations of our his- 
tory principally upon the songs which were sung in the presence of the 
chieftains themselves, or of their sons, and we confidently adopt as truth 
and history all the accounts we find in these poetical memorials of their 
feats and battles.- For although it be the custom with thebard to praise the 
chief before whom he strings the harp, yet no one would da^-e to relate 
to a chief deeds of glory wluch all the warriors present, and the chief 
himself, would know to be nothing but flirtation and untruth ; because 
that woidd be mockery and scorn, instead of admiration and praise." — 
Chronicle of the Kirnit of Norway, by Sam. Laing. Vol i. pp. 211-213, 



56 



FIFTH PERIOD.— NORWAY. 



whose winter is extremely cold and dreary ; because that 
whole region is exposed to the eastern storms, sweeping 
over the snow plains of Northern Siberia and Russia. Swe- 
den has but scanty harvests of grain; but it abounds in 
iron, copper, and other minerals. Norway lives almost en- 
tirely on its fisheries, game, and commerce. The extreme 
leno-th of that wild territory, from the southern promontory of 
Sweden to North Cape, is upward of 1100 miles ; its breadth 
from Bergen, in Western Norway, to Stockholm on the east, 
is 450 miles ; its superficial dimensions are three hundred 
thousand square miles, of which thirty thousand are covered 
by lakes and swamps ; it is therefore more thinly inhabited 
tlian any couutry in Europe, having only five millions of souls, 
one million and a half of which are Nordmcend, or Norse. 
The most singular features in the scenery of Norway are the 
fjords, or friths, deep valleys filled by the sea, which often 
run into the interior for several hundred miles. How these 
immensely deep rifts, sometimes not a gunshot in breadth, 
have been furrowed out of the solid primary rock, is still a 
problem. It could not be from the action of the sea, for they 
extend into various branches, starting off in directions which 
never were exposed to the impulse of the ocean ; and we can 
therefore only explain this phenomenon by the general eleva- 
tion of the land by volcanic upheavings, as we find it in Ice- 
land. In the depth of these land-locked bays, shut in by 
rocks, woods, and the deep and glassy waters of the distant 
ocean, lived the Viking of old — lives now the happy and 
peaceful farmer or fisherman, with his small and neat dwelling 
leaning against the rocks, a green meadow on the banks for his 
cows and goats, and his little skiff at anchor before his door ; 
where he in sight of his chimney smoke, and the rocky forest 
ai'ound, catches the finest sea-fish, the delight of distant Italy 
and Greece. Can we wonder, then, that such localities — the 
deep fjords, and the hundreds of high, rocky islands at their 
mouths, should have invited the enterprising Norsemen of old, 
to the exciting and lucrative life of the pirate.^ ^ The natural 
division of Norway was into regions lying north, west, and south 
of the mountains; and these into thirty-four or thirty-five Fylker, 
or districts, having petty kings, who were continually fighting 
with one another, until Half dan Swarte (the Black), the king of 
Westfold, about the year 850, began to extend his sway in the 
south and west. His son, the celebrated Harald Haarfager 
(the fair-haired), crossed the Dovi-e-Fjeld, and subdued with 
the sword all the small sea kings, and stool kings of the north 
and west, during his long reign from 863 to 931. 

Many of the vanquished chiefs fled to Iceland, which had 
just been discovered at that period; others crossed the Kjolen 
and settled in Hjemtelandand Heriedalen, on the frontiers of 
Sweden. King Harald reduced the petty kings to the position 
of mere governors or judges called Jarls, somewhat similar to 
the Counts of Chai-lemagne. They never afterwards succeed- 
ed in throwing off their allegiance, nor did they ever obtain 
any feudal powers. In Norway the full strength of the nation 
rested on the Odeh Bondc, that is, the free landholder or 
husbandman, who was the proprietor of the land — -held not 
from the king nor from any feudal superior. °' The equal divi- 
sion of property among the children, a rule extending to the 
crown itself, prevented the accumulation of power and lands in 
individuals. Norway had no fortresses save her snow-capped 
mountains, no feudal castles nor strongholds for arrogant 
nobles ; the farm-house of the Bonde, like the manor of the Jarl, 
was built of wood, much resembling the picturesque cottages of 

" See the fine description of tlie Norwegian coasts in Sam. Laing's 
Norway. London, 18.36. 

«» See above note 37, page 31. Laing's beautiful preliminary dis- 
sertation on Snorro, Chap. IIL 



Switzerland. The King with his Hird or court, the Jarls and 
the Bonder,- appeared at the Ting or general assembly, where 
they took part in the discussion of state affairs.. Another class 
were the Trcalle, thralls or domestic slaves, mostly prisoners 
captured by the Vikings at sea on piratical cruises; they were 
private property, but generally so well treated, that Sigurd 
Jar], the high-priest of Thor, for instance, enabled his Traelle 
to purchase their freedom hj giving them the right of fishing 
in the fjords on his estates, or seated them as farmers on his 
uncleared lands. Hakon the Good, the son of Harald Fair- 
hair, attempted to introduce Christianity, but he found the 
Norse too stubborn and devoted to their old heathen gods and 
festivals ; and it was not until the energetic rule of King Olaf 
Tryggveson in 9^7-1000, and that of the unhappy Saint 
Olaf, who perished in the battle of Stiklestad in 1030, that the 
temples of Odin and Thor were at last destroyed, and the 
Cross of Christ arose at Nidaros (Trondhjem), in the north. 

Nordcnfjelds, north of the mountains, we have : Halogaland 
on the frontiers of Finnmaken ; Naumdal andTHROND or Trond- 
hjem (Drontheim), with the capital Nidaros on a deep frith. 
Here the traveller admires the celebrated cathedral builtl033, a 
huge structure In the ancient Saxon style, with arches, clois- 
ters, and roughly carved ornaments, and the sepulchral vaults 
of the Norwegian kings. The shrine of Saint Olaf was a place 
of pilgrimage for the pious Catholics from every part of Eu- 
rope. Hlade (the grange), the residence of Harald and his 
successors. Moere where the public assemblies were held, and 
where we still behold the monnds and foundations of heathen 
temples. Stiklestad, north of Nidaros, the bloody battle-field 
where the heathen Norse defeated and slew King Olaf the Saint, 
in 1 030. Rimol, farther Inli^id, the country-seat of Thora, where 
Hakon Jarl was stabbed by his serf Karker, In 997. West of 
Thrond lay Nord and South Moere and Naumdal, on the shores 
of the ocean. Weste^ifjelds (west of Mount Dovre), Fjord, 
SoGN, Hor^DALAND, witli the rich commercial city of Bjorg- 
wiNN (Bergen), afterwards one of the seventy confederated 
towns of the Hansa. Rogaland, where, in the deep bay, Ha- 
fursfjord, Hakon Jarl, In a most tremendous naval battle, de- 
feated the daring Jorns- Vikings or pirates, from Jomsborg, in 
996. Sijndenfjelds (south of the mountains), Agde , on the 
southern coast opposite to Jutland. Tellemarken, Hallin- 
gadal, Vestfold, and Viken on the frontiers of Sweden. 
Opslo (now Christlania), the later capital of Norway. Kongs- 
Jielle, frontier fortress, the scene of many hard-fought battles 
with the Swedes. In the uplands, Guldbrandsdal, Eistrid- 
DAL, RoMERiGE, Hedemarken, and other valleys. Norway 
had its own archiepiscopal see in Nidaros. Its jurisdiction- — 
Provincia Nidarosicnsis — extended to Iceland, Greenland, 
the Shetland Islands, the Orkneys, Farceer, and Hebrides. 

224. Discoveries AND Conquests. — Nor are the conquests 
of the Norwegians, during this brilliant period of their history, 
less Interesting than the events in the mother country herself. 

HiALTELAND (the Shetland Islands), Orknoyjar (the Seal 
Islands), Orcades, Orkneys, Svder QIjER (Hebrides or Western 
Islands), were early occupied by the Northmen, who, in the 
reign of King Harald Fairhair, formed a kingdom on the 
Island of Man. Every group of islands had its bishop as suf- 
fragans of the province of Nidaros. The Faer-(Eer or Sheep 
Islands, so called on account of the numerous flocks that make 
the principal resource of the islanders, were discovered in 861. 

Iceland, or Sneeland (snow country), as it was called by 
the Dane Gardar, who discovered it in 863. Its colonization 
began in 875 by the Norwegian Ingolf Greenland was dis- 
covered nearly at the same time, though it was not colonized 
until one century later In 973-85, by Erik the Red, who un- 
dertook an expedition from Iceland to the western seas. A year 
later (986), Biarne Herulfson sailed south from Greenland, and 



FIFTH PERIOD.— AMERICA— S WEDEN— RUSSIA. 



57 



found the east coast of America, where Leif Ericson, Thor- 
wald Ericson, and Thorfinn continued their discoveries, and 
called the fertile wot)dlands Viinland, and the savage inhabit- 
ants skrozUinger or wretches. Some colonies were established 
on the coasts of Rhode Island and Massachusetts ; but they did 
not prosper, and appear to have been abandoned in the thir- 
teenth century.^^ Iceland was soon colonized by dissatisfied 
Norsemen, who fled from the sword of Harald Haarfager ; they 
established a republican government, and were, in the year 
1000, converted to Christianity. 

VI. Kingdom of Sweden. 

(225. Extent, Divisions, and Remarkabe Cities. — The 
early history of Sweden is more obscure and far less interest- 
ing than that of Denmark or Norway ; nor do the middle ages 
of Sweden present us with so rich a variety of events, as do 
the expeditions and conquests of the Danish and Norwegian 
sea-kings, and the later participation of the Danes and Norse 
in the crusades, and their multifarious relations with the south. 
/ Sweden has no Snorro, no Saxo. But, on the contrary, Sweden 
'-TT has a modern history from the sixteenth century to the eighteenth. 
P more brilliant than that of any other nation during the same 
I period. There were continual wars between the different tribes 
of G-oths and Swedes and between the reigning dynasties. The 
country was mountainous, covered with forests ; the inhabitants 
were poor. The Norwegians and Danes by possessing the west- 
ern coast-land along the Baltic, Viken, Halland and Skaane, 
excluded the Swedes in a manner from the participation of 
the western expeditions of their neighbors. Yet the Swedes 
had their own crusades nearer at home ; from early times 
they fought against the Laplanders of Helsingeland, in 
the north, and against the Finnish or Chudish tribes in 
Quainland, and Kyriala-Iand on the east. These obscure 
conquests, and the Swedish settlements on the coast of Finn- 
land, form the best part of their annals ; the rest is blood- 
shed and horrors at home. The Swedes in Swithiod north of 
the lakes, and the Goths in the more southern Gothland, though 
divided by their ruling dynasties, met for the same temple ser- 
vice at the great sanctuary of Odin at Upsala; and toward the 
middle of the ninth century, Eric Edmundson contrived to 
unite the warring tribes, and to rule Sweden as Enekunge or 
sole king, with his Jarls and Drots. Christianity made but 
little progress among so wild and superstitious a people, who 
still clung to Odin and Vallhalla, and it was not until 1157 
that Saint Eric, in his zeal, carried the cross to Finnland 
\^among the Quains. The power of the Swedish Kings was very 
circumscribed by the general diets of the free proprietors, the 
Bonder, and by the pride of the Jarls, who, like the Dukes and 
Counts in Germany and France, arrogated a certain degree of 
independence to themselves ; nay, very early we find in Sweden 
the Jarl of the Realm — Riks-Jarl — in similar relations to the 
king as the ')nayor domus in the kingdom of the Franks. The 
family of the Folkunger having first obtained this hereditary 
dignity, they soon aspired to the crovm itself in 1250. 

Suithiod consisted of the provinces Dalae,ne on the north- 
east, the southern part of Helsingaland as far north as the river 
Angermanna Elv ; Upland, with the Aalands islands, on the 
east ; Vermeland, by the Eda-forest separated from Norway ; 
West-manna-land, Sodermanna-land, and Nerike around the 
deep frith Mcelarn ; the mining district was called Jernb/era- 
land (Iron-produeing-land). 

Gothland, south of the large lakes of Wener and Wetter, 
was divided into west and east Gothland ; and Smaaland, bor- 

^^ See for farther details the numerous works published by the So- 
ciety of Northern Antiquaries in Copenhagen, and by several distin- 
guished literary gentlemen in this country. 



dering south on the Danish possessions in Skaane. Gothland 
and Egland (Oeland) lay off the coast. Sigtuna, on the 
Maelarn, with its heathen rock-altars and temples, stood already 
in ruins. Upsala, the later capital of the Swedish Kings, 
north of Sigtuna, became the archiepiscopal see of the eccle- 
siastical province of Upsala — Provincia U^^saliensis — which 
embraced all Sweden and Finnland as far as the river Newa in 
the Kyriala Bottn or Finnish Gulf Bjorko (Birka), west of 
Sigtuna, on the Maelarn, whither the kings had removed their 
residence during the tenth century, and remained until Jarl Bir- 
ker, about the middle of the thirteenth century, built Stocksund 
on the Stockholm, an island strongly fortified with walls and 
towers, to protect the ofiing of the Maelarn against the Vikings. 
From this small beginning rose afterward the splendid city of 
Stockholm; 

VII. Grand Duchy of Russia. 

226. Origin, Extent, Divisions, and Remarkable 
Cities. — Among the many Sclavonian tribes who were driven 
northward from the Black Sea on the advance of the Chazars 
(91, 193), were the Russniaks, Ross, or Russians,^'' who pene- 
trated the Sarmatian forests, and subdued and expelled the 
Finnish tribes of the Mordwens and Muromens on the upper 
Volga ; there they settled and founded the great and fiourish- 
ing cities of Novgorod on the lake of Ilmen, and Kiew on the 
Dnieper. To the southward they waged continual war with the 
Chazars, and on the Baltic they met the Northmen, who, as 
Warcegs or Vdringers (adventurous warriors), infested the 
coasts with their piracies. Owing to the quarrels among their 
own chiefs, which gave the Russians so much trouble, they en- 
tered into an alliance with the more intelligent strangers, and 
thus it happened that the Danes in a. d. 852 laid the founda- 
tion of the immense Russian Empire, where the descendants 
of the' dynasty of Ruric held the sway for more than seven hun- 
dred years. An adventurous band of Danish Vikings, com- 
manded by Ruric the Jute, his brothers Sineus and Truvor, 
and the young prince Gorm of Denmark, landed on the Finnic 
Gulf, near the lake of Ilmen. These chiefs, at the head of the 
Russniaks, soon extended their conquests among the Slavic 
tribes ; they occupied the flourishing city of Novgorod, and 
advancing boldly into the heart of the country, formed a 
large empire between the river Duna on the west and the Volga 
on the east, and fixed their residence at Kiew on the Dnieper. 
Pressed, however, by the numerous tribes of Sclavonians around, 
and by the Chazars from the south, the stout Danes were ob- s 
liged to defend themselves sword in hand behind their for- 
tresses, until new bands of their roving countrymen pouring 
in, Ruric and his brothers soon recovered their conquests, 
and established themselves permanently in a. d. 562 in 
Russia. As long as Ruric and his descendants were con sider- 
ed aliens and conquerors, they ruled by the sword of the / 
Northmen. They distributed estates and subjects among 
their faithful captains, and supplied their numbers by fresh 
streams of adventurers from the Baltic islands. But when the 
Scandinavian chiefs had struck a deeper and more permanent 
root in the soil, they mingled with the native Sarmatians, Russand 
Russians, in blood, habits, and language ; and the first Wladi- ^ 
mir, who was baptized by the persuasion of his fair Queen, ,\ 
Olga, in 980, and introduced the Greek Church service ' 
into Russia, disbanded his Danish body-guard.^^ But in- 

°' The Russians appear for the first time in the Byzantine historians 
of the ninth century, under the undeclinable name of Pair, and they 
have then already their characteristic features the white skin, the red 
hair, and the green cat eye. 

*" It is a highly interesting fact that the German Chronicler, Ditmar 
of Mereeburg, so late as 1018, says : "that Kiew in Russia was then still 
guarded by the strength of the Danish arms." 



58 



FIFTH PEKIOD.— RUSSIANS— VENDES— FRANKS. 



1 



A. 



stead of returning to the north, the Danes, always fond of 
southern scenes and impressions, pushed on to Constantinople, 
where a great number of their countrymen had already taken 
military service among the Greeks. The Byzantine Emperors, 
surrounded by intrigues and treachery, were glad to enlist seve- 
ral thousands of brave and sober Northmen. They received high 
pay; they wore their bear-skin mantles over their glittering 
armor ; and the astonished Greeks hearing their name Vce?-- 
i7iger, pronounced it : Varanglii — Bapayyot. With their 
hea^^ broadsword at their side, and the double-edged battle- 
axe on their shoulder, they attended the Emperor to the 
Santa Sophia, the Senate, the Hippodrome, or the battle-field. 
He slept and feasted under the guard of his Danish Varanghi ; 
and the keys of the palace and imperial treasury, of the 
towers and gates of Constantinople, were held by the firm and 
faithful hand of the Scandinavian prince who commanded that 
chosen body. They continued to speak their own language, 
and, on days of great festivals, they offered their congratula- 
tions and assurances of loyalty to the Emperor in the Danish 
tongue. 

The Scandinavian elements in the government of the early 
Ru>ssian states, and the Greek service in their Church, are 
important facts which gave their peculiar character to the 
Russian people. The most intimate relations between the 
northern kings and the Russian grand- dukes continued for cen- 
turies. Young Danish or Norwegian princes were educated 
at the court iu Gardarike (Russia), and the northern pilgrims 
and warriors passed mostly through that friendly land on their 
route to the Mediterranean and the Holy Land. Under their 
warlike chiefs the Russians reached the shores of the Black 
Sea so early as 865. They armed expeditions against Con- 
stantinople herself in 904 and 941, and though they were de- 
feated and driven back, they profited by these visits. They 
returned more civilized; Greek churches and monasteries were 
built in every part of the country ; the Russian clergy obeyed 
the Patriarch of Constantinople, and thus the civilization 
which both church and commerce introduced into Russia 
had an oriental character. Many institutions, however, were 
still Norman ; the Russian state of&cers were called gosti. 
Wladimir admitted the nobles — Boyars — to his council, 
and the oppressive despotism which was introduced in later 
centuries, after the Mongol invasion, had not yet degraded and 
enslaved the frank and jovial character of the ancient Russians. 
At the time of the death of Otho the Great, 973, the great 
principality of Russia extended from the Lake of Ladoga, 
south toward the waterfalls of the Dnieper, the lower Don, 
and the Black Sea. The Grand Duke Swartoslav advanced 
victoriously to the foot of Mount Caucasus in 955-972, where 
he destroyed the empire of the Chazars, and subdued the Yassi 
and Kasachi, nomadic nations of Tui'kish origin, on the steppes 
of the Kuban. The Russians even conquered and occupied the 
city and principality of Tmutarakan — Motercha — on the Tau- 
rian Bosporus (as indicated iu the map), and entered into 
direct relations to the Greeks in the Crimea. Only some few 
relics of the defeated Chazars had saved themselves in the 
northeastern portion of that peninsula, and others had crossed 
the Volga, retreating eastward. The Finnic nations on the north- 
eastern frontier were likewise expelled into the dreary plains 
of BiARMELAND — Pcrmia — on the shores of the Gandawyk — 
the White Sea — or forced to recognize the Russian rule. A 
similar fate awaited the Lettic and Lithuanian races on the 
Baltic, and thus had that active people, in the space of one 
century (from 862 to 973), already formed the largest empire in 
Europe. Novgorod — Nemograd (New-town) — on the north- 
ern bank of the Lake Umcn, the first capital of Russia, was 
already a thriving commercial town. Kiew, south on the right I 



bank of the Dnieper, as the second capital of the grand dukes 
of Russia, became adorned with Byzantine churches and con- 
vents, and showed signs of its future greatness by its crowded 
population, and active commerce on the Black Sea and Con- 
stantinople. PoLOTZK, on the Dilna, was the capital of the 
tributary Slavic race of the Polotzchani. Zaslav (now in ruins 
near Wileika), on the Niemen, was the principal city of the 
Slovensi. — Smolensk, on the Dnieper. — Tchernigov, south- 
east of Kiew, became an independent principality. Pereya- 
SLAVE, near Kiew. — Murom, on the Oka, northeast, was the 
capital of the tributary Finnic race of the Muromens. Moskow 
herself was yet unborn. 

On the southern shores of the Baltic, or the Sea of the 
Warcsgs, as it then was called, were still independent the > 
savage BoRussiANS (Prussians), and the Vendes (in Pomerania), 4«<^ 
who were fighting hard with the Saxon emperors of Germany, / 
but had not yet succeeded in forming their large Vendic King-. 
do?n, which we shall describe in the period of the Crusades. / 



^ IL— CENTRAL EUROPE. 

228. Dismemberment of the Carlovingian Empire. — 
The mighty arm, which had ruled so many warlike nations 
of western Em"ope beneath its peaceful jui'isdiction, was now 
no more, and the pious, but indolent, Louis-le-Debonnair, who 
could not control his own wife. Queen Judith, was still less 
able to restrain his violent sons, and their ambitious and as- 
piring retainers — both prelates and warriors — nor the then 
awakening feelings of nationality, which, with a higher culti- 
vation, began to inspire Germans, French, and Italians. The 
Mussulmans in Spain; the Lombards in Italy: the Gallo-Ro- 
mans in Aquitaine ; the half-converted Saxons ; the heathen 
Sclavonians and Avars ; the proud Neustrian Franks ; the 
still prouder Austrian Germans, as the countrymen of Karl 
the Great himself ; all now fretted beneath the lax and vacil- 
lating government of the monkish Louis, and all aspired to a 
national independence, which only the penetrating glance and 
the armies of Charles had been able to restrain. Charles had 
victoriously repelled the gatherings of other barbaric tribes 
along the distant frontiers of his immense empire — but Danes, 
Sclavonians, Tartars, and Saracens, awaited only the death of 
the great emperor, to take back with usury the tributes which 
he had imposed upon their vanquished tribes. The Northmen 
immediately began to infest the coasts with their fleets — the 
Saracens pressed upon the Spanish marches; the Basques 
(Vasconi) resumed their liberty in the Pyrenees ; Brittany 
was in commotion ; the Obotrites and Sorabians crossed 
the Elbe ; the Bulgarians invaded Avaria. Within all was 
disorder; poor Louis gave away his domains to the church; 
he granted hereditary estates to his counts and envoys, and in 
his despair he divided his empire among his heartless and am- 
bitious sons. Soon the civil war broke out in all its fury ; the 
nations demanded their independence. Charles of France and 
Louis of Germany united against their brother Lothaire (Lu- 
ther) of Italy, the Emperor, and the bloody battle at Fonta- 
nctum (Fontenay) near Auxerre in Burgundy, in July, 841, 
decided the separation of the component parts of the Carlo- 
vingian empire. Lothaire was routed, and forced to relinquish 
his imperial title. In the treaty at Verdun, 843, France, 
Germany, and Italy became distinct kingdoms, but in order to 
make an equal division, the two allied brothers ceded to Lo- 
thaire the whole tract of country lying between the Rhone, 
Moselle, and Scheldt on the west, and the Rhine and Alps on 
the east, that country in which the nationalities were mixed 
French and German, and the possession of which has after- 



FIFTH PERIOD.— FEUDAL KINGDOM OF FRANCE. 



59 



ward been the cause of so many desolating wars down to our 
own day. This country, then called Middle France, now took 
the name of its sovereign, Lotheringhe-Rike, LotJiaringia, 
or Lorraine.^' So far, the independence of the diiFerent na- 
tionalities had been accomplished, yet the divisions between 
the quarrelsome descendants of Charlemagne did not stop 
there, and shortly afterward, at the death of Charles-le-Grros, 
A. D. 888, the three kingdoms split into nine states, separated 
by difference of race, language, or dialect. These were, 1, 
Germany ; 2, Lorraine; 3, France; 4, Bretagne (Brittany); 
5, Italy ; 6, Transjurane Burgundy ; 7, Cisjurane Burgundy ; 
8, Aquitainc ; and 9, the Sj^anish Border. At the time of 
Otho the Great, one century later, 951-973, Italy and Lor- 
raine had become united to Germany; Brittany and Aquitaine 
stood in loose feudal relations to France ; and only the two 
Burgundies, united into one kingdom, and the western Spanish 
March, or the kingdom of Navarre, had preserved their auto- 
nomy. After many extraordinary vicissitudes, the German 
branch of the Carlovingian house became extinct with Louis- 
the-Child in 912, and the French with Louis V., the Idler, in 
987 ; in the former state followed first duke Conrad of Fran- 
conia, until 919, and then the powerful dukes of Saxony; in 
the latter, the most wealthy and intriguing of the Feudatories, 
Hugh Capet, Count of Paris. 

7III. — The Kingdom of France. 

229. Limits of France in 973. — The modern kingdom of 
France extended, at the period during which we describe the 
position of Europe, from the mouth of the Scheldt south to 
the city of Barcelona, whose count still recognized his allegiance 
to France.^" Eastward, France was separated by the rivers 
Scheldt and Moselle from Lotharingia, and by the Saone and 
Rhone from the kingdom of Burgundy. 

230. Political Divisions. — Feudalism had been repressed 
by the strong hand of Charlemagne, who administered his 
vast empire by his counts, as his judicial officers ; they were 
however entirely dependent on the sovereign will of the Em- 
peror. But Louis-le-Debonnair and his successors gave 
away dignities, counties, domains and all ; and thus the eleva- 
tion of the third royal dynasty in France, that of the Capets, 
in 987, marks the epoch during which feudalism, in its full 
power, prevailed throughout that country, and the greater part 
of central and southern Europe. In France, feudalism seemed 
at the beginning of the 1 1th century, already upon the point of 
crushing the royal authority altogether; but many different con- 
curring causes — the strong central position of the Capetian do- 
mains, the prudence and longevity of these chiefs, the security of 
their hereditary succession, the protection and encouragement 
they gave to the cities and free communities, and lastty, the cru- 
sades, and tlie constant feuds among the nobles themselves — 
contributed to the slow yet progressive extension of the royal 
prerogative, which ultimately, in the beginning of the 14th 
century, gained the most signal victory. At the time of the 
downfall of the Carlovingian line, we make a distinction be- 
tween the royal domains and the fiefs. The former were the 
immediate possessions under the crown, and they were at that 
time reduced to a mere trifle, while a considerable number of 
fiefs, more or less important, still belonged to the king. Yet 
though he was considered the Suzerain, or paramount lord of 

"" The kingdom of Charles the Bald was then called Francia Nova 
— West or i\"«M Franken — the ancient Neu.stria and Aquitania, and that 
of Louis the German, east of the Rhine, Fraxcia Antiqua — Ost or Alt 
Franken — the ancient Austrasia ; an appellation which is still preserved 
in the Bavarian province of Frauconia. 

■"> Borreli, the ninth count of Barcelona, declared himself indepen- 
dent shortly after the accession of Hugh Capet. 



them, they formed in reality so many small independent states, 
the owners of which, under the feudal titles of dukes, counts, 
viscounts, barons, or mere seigniors, had now become possess- 
ors of territories, which their fathers only held as removable 
Gau-grafen, or imperial stewards. At the breaking up of 
the organization of the counties {pagi or gauen), the counts 
becoming hereditary lords, began to exert their influence and 
power in uniting as many districts as possible under their 
dominion ; and while thus rounding off their territories, by mar- 
riage, or by the sword, large estates were founded that might 
have bid defiance to royalty itself. The Church had of 
course followed the example of the nobility, and the bishops 
and abbots, snugly seated in their cities and monasteries, be- 
came just as warlike, ambitious, and quarrelsome, as the dukes 
and counts themselves.^' 

231. The Carlovingian Domains in 987, were reduced to 
the small Comitatus Laudunensis, whose capital, Laudunum 
(Laon), situated on a steep mountain, was the capital of Louis 
the Idler (le faineant). The town of Compendium (Com- 
piegne), on the Oise, was his second possession, where he was 
crowned and buried. 

232. Feudal Territories. — We shall here make some his- 
torical remarks on the most important, and only give the name 
of the rest. They were sixty in number, on the accession of 
Hugh Capet.' 2 

I. Comitatus Flandri^, which occupied the whole north- 
ern part of France. Brugce (Bruges), Ganda (Gand), and 
Arrebate (Arras), were the most important towns, though still 
in their infancy. 

II. Comitatus Guisn^ (Guines). III. C. Boloni^ (Bou- 
logne). IV. PoNTivus (Ponthieu), were all situated along the 
coast of the Channel. Abbatis Villa (Abbeville), was the 
capital of the latter ; it had formerly belonged to the i-ich Ab- 
bey of St. Richerii. Hugh Capet had taken possession of the 
town, and fortifying it as a strong bulwark against the Normans, 
he gave the command of it to his brother-in-law, the count of 
Ponthieu. 

233. V. — Comitatus Vermandensis (Vermandois), south 
of Flanders, with the city of Augusta Vermanduorum (Saint 
Quentin), which gave its own name to the county, and took that 
of the saint who had died a martyr within its walls ; Ambiani 
(Amiens), on the Somme. ^ VI. C. — Suessiones (Soissons). 
VII. — C. Vadensis (Valois), with the capital, Crispium 
(Crepi), and the fortress, Vadum (Vez), the former residence 
of the counts. 

234. VIII. — Comitatus Reitestinus (Rethel), east of 
Vermandois, contained the whole northern part of the present 
Champagne. IX. — C. Remensis (Rheims), and Roceji 
(Roucy), in the centre of Champagne. X. — C. Campania 
(Champagne). XI. — C. Senonensis (Sens), west of Cham- 
pagne. 

235. XII. — Ducatus Francis (duche de France), com- 
prised the whole country between the Loire and the Seine, 

" The bishops had obtained the jurisdiction of the ancient counts, 
or Count Palatines, in the cities of the empire ; but as they were prelates, 
and could not themselves wield the sword of justice, they ruled by means 
of their military viscount, vice-comes, or bailiff. Tlius the poor citizens, in- 
stead of one master, had now got two, who were often quarrelling with 
one another, and disturbing the tranquillity of the town with their vio- 
lent feuds. 

"^ The scale of our map did not permit us to fix the names of all the 
counties, viscounties, and smaller seigniories, but the historical student 
will easily be able to follow us on any geographical map of modern 
France. We likewise give both the Latin name then in use, and the 
modern French, because we know, from our own experience, how im- 
portant the mediaeval denominations are, in order to understand not only 
the chronicles and documents of the time, but even the frequent Latin 
citations which we meet with on every page in modern works on FrencU 
history. 



60 



FIFTH PERIOD.— KINGDOM OF FRANCE. 



from the borders of Normandy and Brittany, to tliose of Bur- 
gundy. The duchy contained the above-mentioned counties 
of Champagne, and the following :— Comitatus Parish (Paris), 
the most important of all ; because the city of Paris, its capital, 
became on the accession of Hugh Capet, again the residence 
of the French king. 

AuRELiANUM (Orleans), on the Loire, formed likewise an 
important county, dependent on the duchy of France. Smaller 
feudal possessions following its banner, were Belvacum, 
(Beauvais), C. Carnutinus (Chartres), C. Turonensis (Tours), 
and others. XIII. — C. Corbolii (Corbeil), southeast of Paris. 
XIV.— C. Mellenti (Meulan), northeast of Paris. XV.— C. 
VucASSiNus (Vexin), with the capital, Pontesia (Pontoise), on the 
Oise. The count was the vassal of the archiepiscopal see of 
Saint Denis, and raised his own banner. 

236. XVI. DucATUs NoRMANNiiE (Normandy) extended 
along the coast of the Channel, from the river Bresle on the 
northeast to the Couesnon on the southwest, and was divided from 
the county of. Vexin by the river Epte^ so celebrated by the 
treaty between Charles the Simple and Rolf Ganger, the Nor- 
man hero, in 911, at the town of Saint Clair-sur-Bpte, where- 
in the whole fertile province was ceded to the Normans. These 
fierce warriors had, during the latter part of the ninth century, 
continued their invasions on the coasts of France, burning and 
destroying the cities on the banks of the Seine, Loire, and 
twice besieging Paris itself. But their settlement in Nor- 
mandy in 912, was of immense consequence for the develop- 
ment, not only of the French kingdom as a power, but for that 
of the language and literature of France, and the introduction 
of those chivalrous ideas and manners by which the French, 
later, outshone all the nations of Europe. Those Danish and 
Norwegian Vikings were, by the effeminate Carlovingian 
Princes, considered as unwieldy barbarians ; but they appear, 
on the contrary, to have been a highly endowed race of men, 
who, by their intelligence, daring courage, activity, and perse- 
verance in every enterprise, were the true prototypes of 
their still more successful descendants, the Amei-icans. The 
Normans took up the plough as nimbly as the sword. The 
fertile lands of Normandy were divided by the line among the 
conquerors, who became the lords of towns and hamlets, and 
thus the native serfs changed masters ; but from a wilderness 
the country within twenty years baeame the garden of France. 
It suddenly rose to wealth and civilization, being peopled by 
thousands of Normans from Denmark and Norway, who con- 
tinued to pour in and settle on the coast-lands of Bay.eus and 
Coutances, where their language, the Danish tongue — Danske 
Tunge — predominated for centuries, and is still distinguished 
in many words of the Normanic dialect of the present day.'' ^ 
The wild, fantastic religion of Odin ; the adventurous life of 
the sea-rovers ; their sudden conversion to the Roman Catholic 
faith, with its pomp and solemnity — all combined, gave a cer- 
tain religious and romantic turn to their character, their ideas, 
and manners, which we discover in their chivalrous institutions, 
their literature, and arts. Every church built by the Normans 
in France or Italy bears evidence of their fanciful taste for 
dragons, monsters, and supernatural beings.''* The Norman 
knights marrying native Frenchwomen, soon forgot their native 



■" The Normans are still the best mariners of France, and all tlieir 
most distinguished Admirals were of Norman descent. We discern, 
likewise, this Scandinavian influence in the naval expressions of the 
French language, such as, for instance : esguif, boulines, raalings, gard- 
inges, haler, sigler, sterman, and many others— all of Danish origin. 

'■■' The most curious Norman monument of those times is the immense 
tapestry in the Church of Bayeux, two hundred and fourteen English 
feet in length, which represents the expedition of William the Conqueror 
to England, the battle of Hastings, and other mihtary exploits, exhi- 
biting the armature and costumes of the eleventh century in a beautiful 



language, and not being crammed with the pedantic Latin of 
that period, they boldly took up the vulgar French dialect, 
which their bards, within a century, raised to the rank of a 
polished and poetical language. The Norman chroniclers 
and poets are the fathers of the present French — not of that 
soft and love-breathing tongue of the troubadours in south- 
ern France, beyond the Loire — the Provengal — which after a 
short brilliant sway during the age of the crusades, was stopped 
in its progress by the terrible religious wars against the Wal- 
denses, and soon yielded to the proud Castilian in the south- 
west, and the wonderfully developed and harmonious speech of 
Dante, Petrarch, and Boccace in Italy. It was the Norman poets 
— the trouveres — who, in the northern French dialect, wrote 
the cone|uest of England and Jerusalem, the deeds of King Arthur 
and his knights of the round table. They introduced the taste for 
the romances of chivalry, and the celebrated allegorical tales of 
Alexander the Great, which, with ingenuity aiid secret flattery, 
described the life and deeds of King Philip Augustus of 
France, and at last decided the character and structure of our 
modern French. Nor was their political and military influence 
less remarkable than that of their poetry and art; and it is 
mainly to the Normans that we must ascribe the brilliant 
success of the French arms in the great crusade in 1099. 

RoDOMAGus (Rouen), on the Seine, was the ducal capital. 
Altavilla (Hauteville), in the viscounty of Coutances on the 
coast, the patrimonial seat of the noble race of the Hauteville, 
from whom sprung the world-known Robert Guiscard, Roger, 
Drogo, Bohemund, and Tancred — the former, the conquerors 
and founders of the Norman kingdom of Naples and Sicily, 
and the two last, the heroes of the first crusade. XVII. Comi- 
tatus Droc^ (Dreux), southeast of Normandy, at the period 
we describe, occupied by Duke Richard I. XVIII. and XIX., 
C. Alencionis (Alencon), and C. Bellismum (Bellesme), south 
of Normandy, possessed by lords who followed the ducal 
banner of Normandy. 

237. Comitatus Britannia (Bretagne) occupied the whole 
ancient peninsula of Armorica, whose count often appears as 
vassal of the Dukes of Normandy. Redones (Rennes) was 
the capital. The Bretons were of British origin ; they spoke 
their own Celtic language, and hated the French, as their 
brethren beyond the water their Anglo-Saxon oppressors. They 
were a brave and quarrelsome people, and gave the Dukes of 
Normandy continual trouble, until Duke William I. brought 
them to allegiance with the broadsword. XXI. Dominium Ful- 
GERi/E (Fougeres), northeast of Brittany. 

238. XXII. Comitatus Cenomani^ (Maine), capital Maia- 
tum (le Mans). XXIII. C. Andegavensis (Anjou), capital 
Andegavi (Angers), on the Loire. XXIV. C. Vindocinen- 
sis (Vendome), at the time possessed by the Count of Anjou. 
XXV. C. Blesensis (Blois). XXVI. Vice-Comitatus 
BiTURRic^ (Bourges) consisted of the city of that name, the 
capital of Berry, with its territory and the Abbey of Sai7it 
Gondon-sur-Loire. XXVII. Dominium Bor.bonense, (Seign- 
iory of Bourbon) southeast of Berry, with the capital Bourbon, 
called Archambaud, after the lords who ruled this region for 
several centuries. 

289. XXVIII. DucATUs Burgundi^, different from the 
kingdom of that name, or of Arelate, which latter lay south be- 
tween the Rhone and the Alps. The duchy bordered north on 
Champagne and France, east on Lorraine and the kingdom of 
Arelate, south on the Saone, and west beyond the Loire on 
Bourbonnois and Nivernois. Burgundy was held by Henry the 
Great as a fief of the French crown ; he obtained it afterwards 
in full property from his brother, Hugh Capet, when the latter 

workmanship. It was embroidered by the fair hands of Queen Blathilda 
and her^court ladies, and must have given the industrious women oceu- 
j)ation for years. 



FIFTH PERIOD.— FEUDAL FRANCE— BURGUNDY. 



61 



mounted the throne of France in 987. Diviona (Dijon), on 
the Ouche, was then the capital of the duchy ; but the princes 
generally resided in the castle of PouUi, on the Saone. Fon- 
tanetMm (Fontenay), west near the river Icauna (Yonne), 
where, on the 25th of June 841, was fought the bloody battle 
between the sons of Louis le Debonnair, which cost the empire 
thousands of brave warriors, and decided its final dismember- 
ment. Austunum, the ancient Augustodunum (Autun). Au- 
tissiodorum (Auxerre), with splendid ruins from the Roman 
times. The Palatinatus Burgundi.e (county of Burgundy, 
afterwards the Franche Comte) formed at this period part of 
the Arelate kingdom, and was divided among several counts, 
whose feudal territories cannot be given in detail. XXIX. 
CoMiTATUs Ternodorensis (Tonuerc), northwest of Burgundy. 
XXX. CoMiTATUs NivERNENSis (Ncvers), on the east of the 
duchy. XXXI. C. Cabilonensis (Chalons), southeast on the 
Sa6ne. XXXII. C. Matiscensis (Macon), south of the for- 
mer, on the- Saone, on the frontier of the Arelate kingdom. 
In the territory of this count, William the Pius, Count of 
Auvergne and Aquitaine, founded in a. d. 910 the celebrated 
monastery of Cluni — Cluniacense inonasterium — in a beauti- 
ful valley on the river Graona (Grone). As he dedicated it 
to the Apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul, the Abbey was 
placed under the immediate dependence of the Roman Pontiff. 

240. XXXIII. ComitAtus Alverni^ (Auvergne), west 
of the Rhone, and south of Bourbonnois, in the higli moun- 
tains. Clarus Mo)is — the celebrated Gergovia of Julius Cae- 
sar (now Clermont), on a splendid site at the foot of Mount 
Puy de Dome, was the capital. XXXIV. V. C. Lemovicen- 
sis (Viscounty of Limoges), which embraced the Haut-Limo- 
sin on the north; and XXXV. V. C. Torenn^e (Turenne) on 
the south, both west of the Auvergnian Mountains. XXXVI. 
CoMiTATUS March^e (county of the Basse Marche, or the low- 
land county of Limosin) westward, with the capital Bellac on 
the Gartempe River. XXXVII. C. Varactensis (county of 
the Haute Marche or highland march), east of the former, on 
the western slope of the mountains, with Varactum (Gueret) 
for its capital. At the time we describe, this county was 
united to C. Petragoris (Perigord), with the capital Petrago- 
ra (Perigueux) on the Ilia (Isle). Lying on the southwest, 
toward the Garonne, Perigord was separated from the hill 
county by the Basse Marche. XXXVIII. C. Encolismensis 
(Angouleme) northwest of Perigord. XXXIX. C. Pictaven- 
sis (Poitiers), north of the Angoumois, was at that period pos- 
sessed by William II., Duke of Aquitaine. 

241. XL. DucATUs Aquitani^ (Aquitaine or Guyenne), 
south of Perigord and Limosin, and to which belonged then, 
not only the county of Poitiers, the Comitatus Xantonensis 
(Saintonge), and Alnetensis (Aunix), on the coast of the At- 
lantic, but also the greater part of Limosin. Burdigala 
(Bordeaux), on the Garonne, was the largest and most flourish- 
ing city of Guyenne, but it belonged in 987, with its county, 
to the duchy of Gascogne. 

242. XLI. Ducatus Guasconi/e (Gascogne), south of Guy- 
enne. — Elusa (Auch) the principal city, capital of XLIL, the 
Comitatus Annaniaci (Armagnac), in a central position, and 
the most important county of Gascogne. XLIII. Y. C. 
Aquensis (Albret), on the coast of the Gulf of Biscay, Avith the 
capital AqucB (Dax) on the river Aturis (Adour). XLIV. C. 
Fidentiaci (Fezenzac), east of Armagnac. XLV. V. C. Leo- 
mania (Lomagne), with F. C. Lectorce (Lectoure), northeast 
of Fezenzac, on the Garonne. XL VI. C. Astaraci (Astrac), 
with the capital Mirande. The count possessed likewise the 
neighboring Comitat. Pardiaci (Pardiac). XL VII. V. C. 
BENEARNiJi; (Viscounty of Beam), south at the base of the 
Pyrenees, with the capital Palum (Pau), on the river Gava 
(Gave). XLVIII. C. Bigorr/e (Bigorre), east of Beam, in 



the high valleys of the Pyrenean mountains, with the capital 
Tarbes on the Adour. XLIX. C. Conveni/e (Cominges), east 
of Bigorre, with the capital St. Bertrandi (Saint Bertrand). 

243. L. Comitatus Tolosj3 (Toulouse), east of Guyenne, 
with which it held the first rank in southern France, compris- 
ing besides, 1, the Comitat. Caorcini (Quercy), north of the 
Garonne, with Caorcium (Cahors), on the river Oltus (Lot) : 
2, V. C. Albingensis (Albigeois), with the capital Albigce. 
(Alby), on the Tarnus (Tarn) ; and 3, the Comitat. Sancti 
^GiDii (Saint Gilles), at the mouth of the Rhone. This 
small county belonged properly to the county of Nemausus 
(Nimes), and had its name from the old Abbey of that name, 
situated on the banks of the Rhone. LI. Comitatus Rode- 
nensis (Rovergue), east of Quercy, belonged to the younger 
house of the counts of Toulouse. The capital was Bodes (Ro- 
dez), on the Aveyron. LII. Dobiinium Montis Pessulani 
(Seigniory of Montpellier). LIII. C. Melgorii (Mergueil), 
eastof Montpellier. LIV. V. C. Narbonensis (Narbonne). LV. 
C. Carcassessii (Carcassonne), west of the former, and then in 
possession of Comitatus Fuxi (Foix), south in the valleys of the 
Pyrenees. LVI. C. Rossillonensis (Rousillon), southeast of 
Carcassonne. The capital was Elna (Elne), and afterwards 
Perpinianum (Perpignan). 

244. LVII. Comitatus BARcmoNyE (Barcelona), or the 
Spanish Border-County, which still belonged nominally to 
France, from the time of the conquest of Charlemagne (184), 
but soon declared itself independent. Later, it played a bril- 
liant part in history under the sway of its warlike counts, who 
in the year 1137, by the marriage of Count Raymond Beren- 
gario IV. united Barcelona with the kingdom of Aragon. L VIII. 
C. Ampuritanensis (Ampurias), in the passes of the Pyrenees. 
LIX. C. Ceredani/e (Cerdagne), and C. Bisuldensis (Bcza- 
lu), west of Ampurias, on the southern slope of the mountains, 
and LX. Comitatus Urgellensis (Urgel), in the deep valley 
of Andorra. 

245. With the accession of the third race — the Capetians 
or Capetingians — in 987, the history of the Franks is at an 
end, and that of the French begins. The Germanic elements 
in the former have been entirely absorbed in the Romanic lan- 
guage, character, and habits of the latter. Yet the Aquita- 
nians, south of the Loire, and the Burgundians on the Rhone, 
still preserve their distinct nationalities. Burgundy had al- 
ready, a century ago (888), formed an independent kingdom — 
and the feudal bonds by which Aquitaine is still attached to 
France are so slight, that when Hugh Capet, in 990, with his 
feudal army advanced upon Tours on the Loire, then besieged 
by Count Aldebert of Perigueux, and sending his heralds, 
asked the Aquitanian, " Who made thee count ? " — he received 
the pi-oud answer : " Who made thee king ? " ''^ Thus we 
find France at the close of the 10th century ruled by sixty 
almost independent princes, and a still greater number of pow- 
erful prelates, who considered Duke Hugh Capet of Paris their 
chosen king, only as a primus inter pares.^ yet we shall soon, 
in our next historical picture, at the close of the subsequent 
century, discover with what prudence and perseverance the 
Capetian kings have employed their household power for the 
extension of their territory and the consolidation of their he- 
reditary dynasty on the throne of France. 

IX. — Kingdom of Burgundy (Arelate). 

246. Origin, Extent, and Principal Cities. — During 
the disturbances which followed in France on the death of 
Louis the Stammerer (son of Charles the Bald), in 879, the 

" See the important work of Augustin Thierry: Lettres sur I'His- 
toire de France. Lettre XII., page 220, of the Bruxelles edition. 



62 



FIFTH PP]RIOD.— BURGUNDY— ROMANO-GERMANIC EMPIRE. 



intelligent and active Duke Boson, his brother-in-law and gov- 
ernor in Burgundy, was unanimously elected king by the 
Burgundian diet at Montaille, and took the crown at Lyons. 
The young kingdom — Regnuvi Burgundice, — comprised at 
that time a portion of the French duchy of Burgundy (Chalon 
and Macon), the Franche-Comte, Vienne and Lyons, the 
southeast part of Languedoc west of the Rhone and the Pro- 
vence. Arelate (Aries) became the capital, and gave it the 
name Regmim Arelate. Burgundy was recognized by King 
Charles the Simple of France as an independent state, but after 
the death of King Boson, in 887, Count Rudolphus, his gov- 
ernor of the provinces beyond Mount Jura, in High Burgundy 
(Switzerland), rebelled against his son and successor, Louis, 
and established another kingdom in Wallis and Savoy. Bur- 
gundy was thus split in two — Burgundia Transjurana and 
Cisjurana (219) — which, however, after different revolutions, 
were united again under Rudolphus II., in 933. But being at- 
tacked by France, Rudolphus III. transmitted the succession of 
his crown to the Emperor Henry II. of Germany ; the imperial 
forces took possession of the county in 1032, and then Bur- 
gundy remained in feudal relations to Germany for two and a 
half centuries. Charles IV. is the last emperor who was 
crowned king of Arelate in 1364, and proudly called Mar- 
seilles and Toulon his German ports. Yet the whole was a 
mere ceremony. Provence had long ago been united to Ara- 
gon (1166), and to France (1245), and the latter power succes- 
sively incorporated the small, almost independent states into 
which the Arelate kingdom, in the course of time, had become 
divided. 

The Burgundian kings were elective, and entirely dependent 
on the nobility and clergy ; their revenues were insignificant, 
and they could only secure their equivocal position by enrich- 
ing the church, and distributing their royal domains among 
counts and cavaliers. The kingdom of Bui'gundy extended 
from the Saone and the Rhone on the west, to the Alps on the 
east, and from Basle on the Rhine to the Mediterranean. It 
was divided into High Burgundy or Transjurane Burgundy 
— comprising Western Switzerland, the Aargau, Oeclitland, 
Vaiais, le Pays-de- Vaud and the county of Geneva, together 
Avith the Franche Comte, and part of the Duchy of Burgundy 
— and Arelate or Cis.iukane Burgundy, with Sapaiidia 
(Savoy), Comitatus Liigdunensis, and Provence. Lyons was 
ceded in 955 by King Louis IV., as a dower for his daughter, 
who married Conrad, third king of Burgundy, and was for 
some time his capital. Besanc^on, Geneva, Lausanne, Ch'e- 
noble, Valence, Avignon, Embrun, Forcalquier , Aix, and 
Marseille. Vienne (122), was the capital of a county under 
the allegiance of France. The origin of the celebrated house 
of Savoy is from this time. Their oldest possessions were 
on the lakes of Annecy and Geneva, and in the Lower Vaiais, 
from Saint Maurice to the castle of Chillon, situate on the lake. 
Afterward Count Odo married Adelaide, heiress of the mar- 
quisate of Iporedia (Ivrea). From these parents Amadeus 
inherited, together with Savoy, the valley of Aosta, the plain 
of PiE-m-MoNTE (Piedmont), and a number of fortresses 
reaching to the Mediterranean. 



X. The Romano-Germanic Empire. 

247. Frontiers, Extent, Change of Dynasty and 
Constitution. — The entire eastern moiety of the Carlovingian 
empire, with Lotharingia, Bohemia, Moravia, the eastern 
marches on the Danube, the Sclavonian states east of the Elbe, 
the duchy of Poland, and the kingdom of Italy, was, during 
the memorable reign of Otho the Great (936-973), formed 
into the Romano-Germanic Empire, which, on account of the 



possession of Rome, the imperial capital of the west, received 
the proud name of the Sacred Poman Empire of the German 
Nation — [das heilige Roonische Reich Deutschen Volkes.) 
During the middle ages it preserved its preponderating influ- 
ence on the political relations of Europe ; and it was considered 
as the principal empire in the world, a rank which, however, 
was disputed by the Byzantine emperors of the east. It oc- 
cupied the whole central part of Europe, from the banks of 
the Scheldt, and the Meuse, and from the Alps and the Medi- 
terranean on the west, to the Vistula, and even far beyond 
that river, to the Bug, the Carpathian mountains, and the 
Adriatic on the east. On the north, Germany, extended from 
the Schley, near the Dannevirke (190), north of the Eider, to 
the Gulf of Tarentum and the Tuscan Sea in the south. After 
the battle of Fontenay and the treaty of Verdun, in 843 (162), 
the nations had broken the chains which linked them to the 
unwieldy Carlovingian Empire. The west Franks had become 
Frenchmen — Frangais; the east Franks, Germans — Deutsche; 
whose five leading tribes, the Saxons, Thuringians, Franko- 
nians, Suabians, and Bavarians, at once^ appear in their dis- 
tinct naiional development, and with the extinction of the 
German branch of the Carlovingian dynasty in 911, the his- 
tory of the German Nation begins. Charlemagne had con- 
centrated the whole government of the different German tribes 
under his powerful rule, by the abolition of the ducal dignity, 
and the strict dependency of his imperial officers, the counts 
of thejoao'i [gaugrafen], and the envoys, {'missi dominici),-wh.o 
controlled them (170). But after his death, the invasion of 
the frontiers was begun by Danes, Hungarians, Sclavi and Sara- 
cens ; his weak successors were unable, like the great emperor 
himself, to fly from one end of the empire to another, to repel 
the enemy ; they therefore placed border counts — margraves 
— with ducal powers, at the head of the armies : soon the ju- 
risdiction of the provinces passed into their hands too ; and 
during the reign of the last Carlovingians, towards the close 
of the ninth century, we find that these warriors reappear as 
dukes of Saxony, Thuringia, Franconia, Bavaria, Souabia, and 
Lorraine. They 'were not yet, it is true, regarded as lords of 
their people and lands, but as ministers and representatives of 
their king, in whose name they regulated, in peace the affairs 
of justice and order, and in war, led the army of their tribe to 
battle. But soon becoming large landed proprietors, and be- 
ing no longer under the surveillance of the royal envoys, the 
dukes took advantage of the weakness of the kings. By de- 
grees they arrogated to themselves an increase of power, and 
brought the lesser vassals under their dominion ; — nay, they 
even gradually made their dignity, granted them only as im- 
perial crown ofiicers, hereditary in their families, as well as 
the revenues of the crown lands, which they had only received 
as the reward for their service. Like the great dukes, the in- 
ferior imperial ofiicers, the counts, palatines, margraves, and 
others, established themselves more and more firmly in their 
dignities, and the estates attached to their jurisdictions. The 
whole ancient division of districts — gauen — and the principles 
on which they were founded, fell gradually into decay, and 
the lands became seigneurial territories. The spiritual lords, 
archbishops, bishops, and abbots, were like the temporal lords, 
members and vassals of the empire, and like them, they aug- 
mented their secular power and possessions by means of mili- 
tary tenures ; and thus all these dignitaries became in the 
course of the tenth century, from mere deputies of royal au- 
thority, independent princes of the German nation. The an- 
cient military organization of Charlemagne, was the arriere- 
ban — heer-han — the gathering of the freemen, who, with 
shield and lance followed the emperor on his expeditions for 
the short term of six months. But in the succeeding wars 
with the Hungarians and Poles, victory could only be secured 



FIFTH PEEIOD.— ROMANO-GERMANIC EMPIRE. 



63 



by a skilful and daring cavalry. Knights' service on horse- 
back, in full armor, was therefore required from the nobility 
and their vassals ; the chivalrous spirit of the age prompted 
the larger proprietor to take his estate as a fief of the nobility, 
ajid become their liegeman. Thus arose the Ritterschaft — 
the order of the knights — ^while the common freeman being 
exempted from his military duty in the arriere-ban, and for- 
bidden the use of sword and lance, was oppressed with contri- 
butions and taxes, and sunk back into the despised condition 
of the peasant and the serf In the wild times of the Jist laiv, 
the poorer class of freemen called lids — leute — gave them- 
selves up, both in body and possessions, to the guardianship 
of the church, or as tenants to the nobles, and thus they and 
their descendants became bound to the soil, and the property 
of their lord. The rude manners of the G-ermans were how- 
ever softened by the early dawn of chivalry. Arms, and the 
chase remained their favorite occuj)ations ; the sword and the 
falcon their best treasures. Tournaments and jousts were in- 
troduced by Henry the Fowler, to exercise his German knight- 
hood for the equestrian warfare against the Hungarians. The 
hunting fetes of the German nobility were superb, and in- 
cluded among the highest festivities of life. Ladies, from 
gorgeously ornamented tents, beheld the animated scenes of 
the chase. In the evening, they feasted imder tents in the 
forest, and the jovial company, with their suites, returned by 
torchlight, amidst the music of the hunting horns. Large 
tracts of land were left waste for the sake of the chase, and 
kings and nobles preferred on this account the residence in 
their castles, and despised the quiet dwelling in cities. We 
have spoken of the flourishing cities on the Rhine (71, 163) ; 
in the interior of Germany the rise of fortified towns com- 
menced during the Hungarian wars, in the beginning of the 
tenth century. In order to protect the open country against 
the desolating incursions of the Hungarian hordes, Henry the 
Fowler built a number of castles, or burghs, to serve as 
places of refuge for the inhabitants of the environs. Merse- 
burg, Meissen, Dresden, Nordhausen, Quedlingburg, and 
many other fortified cities and castles in Saxony and Thurin- 
gia, arose at this time. The citizens — burghers — were en- 
dowed with privileges ; they formed free municipalities, ex- 
empt from the jurisdiction of the bishops or secular nobility, 
and became the safeguards of social and political liberty in 
Germany. After the extinction of the German branch of the 
Carlovingian dynasty, with Louis the Child, in 911, Conrad, 
duke of Franconia, was chosen king. Though he found great 
opposition among the unruly dukes of the difl'erent German 
principalities, he bravely defended the country against the Hun- 
garians, secured the possession of Lorraine beyond the Rhine, 
and on his death, in 919, proposed Henry, duke of Saxony, 
as the most worthy chief to succeed him on the throne. The 
Saxon house then followed, from 919 to 1024, under Henry I. 
(the Fowler), the three Othos, and Henry II., one of the most 
brilliant periods in German histoi-y. 

248. Divisions and PpaNciPAL Cities. — The Romano- 
Germanic empire, though apparently so vast in extent, was in 
reality not very powerful, because composed of many scat- 
tered nations — Germans, • Sclavonians, and Italians, who dif- 
ered from one another in origin, manners, language, and 
laws, and were governed by turbulent dukes and arrogant pre- 
lates, who were continually in arms against the emperors. We 
shall here give a short description of the nine great subdivi- 
sions of the empire during the reign of Otho the Great. 

I. The kingdom of Lotharingia or Lorraine, on the north- 
west, between the Scheldt, the Meuse, and the Rhine, formed 
a portion of Germany ; but its position on the frontiers of 
France made it easy for the nobles to maintain a state of al- 
most entire independence, which continued until the conquest 



of Otho the Great in 959. Lorraine was then divided into two 
dukedoms : Ducatus Lotheringi/e Inferioris — Ripuarice — 
or lower Lorraine, on the Meuse (Maas) and the sea-coast, and 
Ducatus Lotheringi.e Superioris — MosellancB — or upper 
Lorraine, on the Moselle, and extending eastward to the moun- 
tain range of the Yosges. The two duchies were divided by 
the celebrated forest of the Ardennes or Siha Ardtcenna ; 
and the political separation by Otho dissolved the alliance 
of their nobility, thus securing these important provinces to the 
empire. Aqu.e or Aixla- Chapelle, where Charlemagne died 
in 814, and Otho I. was crowned in 936 with great solem- 
nity, continued to be considered as the capital of the em- 
pire. Cologne, the archiepiscopal seat of Bruno, the emperor's 
brother. Leuva (Louvain), on the Tilia (Dyle), where the 
Normans, during their devastating incursions, had erected a 
fortified camp, but were totally defeated by the valiant King 
Arnulf in 889. Those invincible Danes, who never had been 
known to fly before an enemy, were here borne down by the 
edge of the sword ; their camp and fleet with immense booty 
were taken, and the joyful event spread like wildfire through- 
out all Germany. Mettis (Metz), on the Moselle, was the ca- 
pital of upper Lorraine. Tullum (Toul), Virodonum (Ver- 
dum), ConJIuentes (Coblentz), on the Rhine, and Treviris 
(Treves), on the Moselle, were flourishing cities. Lucelin- 
burg or Liizilinbiirch (Luxemburg), a strong fortress on the 
Alsuntia (Alzette), was ceded by the monks of Ti-eves to 
Count Sigfried, who was the first of the powerful Counts of 
Luxemburg, that later mounted the imperial throne of Ger- 
many. 

II. Ducatus Fresi^ (Holland and Friesland) extended 
from the north of the Weser along the shore to the Scheldt. 
The Counts of Holtlandia possessed the low coast-land of mo- 
dern Holland. TJltrajectum (Utrecht) and Daventre (Der- 
venter) were the principal towns. 

249. III. Ducatus Saxoniye, on the east of Friesland, 
was, in the tenth century, the most powerful and important 
state of Germany. The unruly, heathen Saxons, whom 
Charlemagne had converted to Christianity and civilization 
by the sword, had in the course of the ninth century, be- 
come the bravest and most cultivated people in Germany, who, 
under the native chiefs. King Henry the Fowler, and his great 
son, Otho I. of Saxony, delivered Germany from the insupport- 
able yoke of the Hungarians, and united the imperial crown of 
Italy to that of the mother country. The duchy extended from 
Friesland to the Oder, and north from Schleswig to the Thu- 
ringian mountain ridge on the south. All the lands eastward 
of the Elbe were conquests from the Sclavonian tribes of the 
Viltzes, Sorabi, and Daleminzii, on the Limes Sorabicus, which 
now became the Ostmark or eastern frontier, strongly protect- 
ed by castles and border-settlers. Osnebrugge (Osnabruck), 
Padarabrunna (Paderborn), Milnster, Goslar, Hildesheim, 
all cities with cathedral churches. Magadeburg (Magdeburg), 
on the Elbe, became an archbishopric under Otho. Quidilin- 
gaburg (Quedlinburg), built by Henry I. The remains of the 
great king lie buried in the Church of Saint Peter. Memleben, 
where he died on the 2d of July, 936. Merseburg, where he 
gained the celebrated victory over the Hungarians, in whose 
camp thousands of German prisoners, women and children, were 
liberated from the most terrible fate, and Germany secured against 
the yearly invasions of those barbarians. This memorable battle 
took place in 933. Near Goslar, at the base of the Ilartes-Berg 
(Mount Hartz), the richest silver mines in Europe were disco- 
vered during the reign of Otho, and worked to the great prospe- 
rity of Saxony. Hammaburguni (Hamburg), on the Elbe, and 
Brema (Bremen), on the Weser, both archbishoprics, which 
sent their missionaries into the north for the conversion of the 
heathen Scandinavians. Marca Sliaswyh was the border dis- 



64 



FIFTH PERIOD.— ROMANO-GEHMANIC EMPIRE. 



trict beyond the Eider, wliich Henry I. established as a bul- 
wark against the incursions of the Danes from beyond their 
fortified lines— the Danevirke— between the frith of the Schlei 
and the North Eider (222 ). TnuraNGiA, in the south, was 
during this period united with the duchy of Saxony. 

IV. DucATUS FRANCoNiiE consisted of the ancient Prankish 
lands on the central Rhine, Hassia, the country west of the 
Thiirino'er-wald, and extended east to Bohemia ; it was divided 
into Francia Rhefiensis, on both sides of that river, and 
Francia Orientalis, at the foot of the Fichtel-gebirge, on the 
upper Mayn. In Franconia the ducal title appeared later, be- 
cause the country, as long as the kings continued of the 
Carlovingian family, was considered as king^s land ; it was, 
however, administered by powerful counts ; and the celebrated 
families of the Babenbergers in eastern Franconia, and the Con- 
radinians at Worms on the Rhine, divided the power, until 
they broke out into a deadly dispute and fight, in wliich the 
Babenbergers were completely defeated. Count Conrad soon 
afterwards in 911 mounted the throne as Conrad I., and pos- 
sessed the duchy with full ducal power ; and his brother and 
successor, Eberhard, obtained the ducal dignity from Henry I. 
of Saxony. Large ecclesiastic territories included in Fran- 
conia, were the following : The archbishopric of Mainz, the 
bishoprics of Wurtzburg, Bamberg, Worms, Spire, and the 
wealthy and powerful abbeys of Fulda and Lorch. Tribur, 
on the Rhine, celebrated for the frequent diets of the empire 
held there. Magontia — Mainz — (Mayence), on the junction 
of the Mayn and the Rhine. Franconovurt (Frankfort), on 
the Mayn. Wirciburg (Wurtzburg), on the upper Mayn. Ba- 
benberg (Bamberg), on the Regnitz. 

250. V. DucATUs Alemanni^ (Souabia), south of Fran- 
conia, embraced the present Baden, Wurtemberg, and eastern 
Switzerland, the Aargau, Zuricgau, and Turgau. In Souabia, 
where the defence of the frontiers was not so necessary, the 
ducal dignity was but gradually acquired through the power of 
the imperial envoys {167 , 170), and developed itself later. Con- 
rad I. made the brave warrior, Burchard, Duke of Souabia. 
Augstburg (Augsburg), on the Lech. It was south of this city, 
on the Lech field, where Otho I., with his Germans divided 
into eight squadrons, surrounded and totally defeated the 
Hungarians, thousands of whom found their grave in the river, 
A. D. 955. 

VI. DucATus Bavari/e, southeast of Souabia, was bordered 
west by the rivers Lecli, and Ratenna (Regnitz), and east by 
the Bohmer-wald and the river Anisics (Ens) ; north it touched 
the Thuringian mountains, and south the high chain of the 
Alps. Bavaria was one of the oldest duchies of Germany, and 
we have already seen how her duke, Thassilon, of the ancient 
race of the Agitolfingi, by his alliance with the Avars, excited 
the anger of Charlemagne, and lost his duchy at the diet of 
Ingelheim in 788 (177). Bavaria became then, like the other 
Prankish countries, ruled by imperial counts. But her eastern 
frontiers were so much exposed to the incursions of the Sclavoni- 
ans from Bohemia, and the Hungarians from Pannonia, that 
the ducal dignity was restored as early as 90 1 , and her frontiers 
were even extended by placing the whole duchy of Ca-iiiitJiia 
(Kairnthen), and the Marca Orientalis (Osterichi or modern 
Austria), under the control and protection of the Duke of Ba- 
varia. Ratisbona — Reganesburg (now Regensburg), Pazza- 
wa (Passau), and Anisipurg (Ens), on the Danube. Salzburg, 
in the beautiful plain on the Salza, was, by Charlemagne, 
erected into an archbishopric over all Bavaria. 

VII. DucATus Bohemia, northeast of Bavaria, comprised 
the eastern frontier province of Moravia, and extended to the 
Carpathian mountains. The Bohemians were Sclavonians be- 
longing to the tribe of the Czekho- Slovaks (107), who, in the 
times of Charlemagne, voluntarily recognized the supremacy 



of the Pranks, and remained henceforth united to the Germanic 
Empire. German missionaries spread the light of Christianity 
among the Czekhs, and in the year 972 an arcbbishopric was 
erected in Prague, which exerted its beneficial influence over 
the eastern provinces of the empire. Praga (Prague), the cap- 
ital of Bohemia, on a magnificent site on the Moldau, became 
soon a populous and thriving city. Oloniuc (Olmiitz), in Mo- 
ravia, was the strong border fortress against the Hungarians. 

VIII. DucATUs PoLONiyE, uorth of Bohemia, stood only in 
more distant feudal relations to Germany. The LjoEchs or Po- 
lani (107), the present brave and cruelly down-trodden Poles, 
formed early a large number of small principalities on the 
extensive and fertile plains of the Vistula and the Oder. 
The B'lasuri, Wislanti, Wtelunzani, and other Ljcechish 
tribes, terminated their internal feuds in the year 842, and 
chose a virtuous freeholder by the name of Piast for their duke. 
During the reign of his descendants, the Fiasts, Christianity 
was introduced into Poland by Greek missionaries from Con- 
stantinople. Duke Mieczislav dismissed his seven heathen 
wives, was converted, baptized, and married the Bohemian 
princess, Dombrowka ; many nobles followed the example of 
their duke ; and the erection of the episcopal see of Posen in 
970 soon gained the victory against the Greeks, and brought 
Poland back to the allegiance of the Roman Pontifi". At that 
time Otho I., at the head of his feudal army, appeared on the 
Vistula, and the timid Mieczislav did homage to the Emperor, 
paid yearly tribute, and followed the imperial banner with his 
Polish cavalry. Yet the Poles were too powerful and too 
warlike a people to remain under the yoke of the haughty Ger- 
man border-counts, and already the son of Mieczislav, Boles- 
lav the Brave (Chrobry), restored, in 1000, the independence 
of his country, and took the royal crown. The Poles were a 
handsome, active, sincere, and valiant people. The farmers — 
kmetons — served on foot with lance and shield ; the richer pro- 
prietors — szlachzie — appeared on horseback in full armor, and 
formed the strength of the feudal army of Poland — pospolite 
ricsce7iie. Otho and his German knights were astonished at the 
immense wealth and abundance they discovered all over the 
country ; and learned that the commerce between the Baltic and 
the Black Sea and Constantinople, at that time passed mostly 
on the commercial roads through Poland, who protected the 
merchants and contributed her own active part in the general 
traffic by her grains, furs, cattle, and excellent horses. The 
government was still patriarchal; and the life of kings and 
cavaliers divided between agricultural pursuits, the chase of 
the urus and bear, or equestrian forays against the Russians. 
LusAciA (Lausitz), on the Elbe, and the duchies of Silesia 
and PoMERANiA were provinces of Poland. Wraslaw (Bres- 
lau), on the Oder ; Ctakoio on the Vistula ; Posen, Plotzk, 
and Gniesno (Gnesen), were the principal cities. Otho III. 
established an archbishopric in the latter city in the year 1000. 

251. IX. Regnum Italic. — Charlemagne was ci'owned 
Roman Emperor on Christmas Day, in St. Peter's, in the year 
800, and he governed Italy, with his other vast states, forty 
years establishing the reign of the laws and a flourishing civili- 
zation. Eight kings of the Carlovingian dynasty ruled in Italy ; 
but when Charles-le-Gros was deposed in 888, Italian or Bur- 
gundian princes disputed for seventy years the crown of Italy 
and the imperial title. Powerful feudatories arose on the 
downfall of the royal authority. These were the dukes of 
Spoleto and Tuscany, the marquises (margraves) of Ivrea, Susa, 
and Friuli. The great Lombard duchy of Benevento, which 
had only rendered feudal homage to Charlemagne, and com- 
prised more than half the present kingdom of Naples, had now 
fallen into decay, and split into the small principalities of Ca- 
pua, Salerno, and Gaeta. Berengar, the marquis of Friuli, 
reigned for thirty-six years, but with continually disputed pre- 



FIFTH PERIOD.— LOMBARDY— ROME— SOUTHERN ITALY. 



65 



tensions. The calamities of Italy were then aggravated by 
foreign invasions. The Hungarians pouring in through the de- 
files of the Julian Alps, devastated Lombardy ; the Saracens, 
then masters of Sicily (from 826), infested the southern coasts 
and settled on Mount Gargano, at Lucera in the Apulian 
plain, and on the Grulf of Tarento. Plunged in an abyss from 
which her wrangling native princes could not save her, Italy 
sought her salvation in the sword of the Saxon Otho the Great. 
It is, a well-known fact that it was the tears of a beautiful 
woman, Adelheid of Burgundy, then besieged in the castle of 
Cauossa, on Mount Apennine, by the revengeful Berengar, 
which determined the chivalrous German king to cross the 
Alps in 951, to win his lovely bride and the imperial crown of 
Italy ; an event of the utmost importance, because it henceforth 
drew the almost entire attention of the German kings to the 
aifairs of Italy, and hindered them from consolidating their 
power in their native country. The German army found no 
opposition south of the Alps. Berengar II., the sovereign of 
Italy, submitted, and when he later attempted to raise the 
banner of independence again, Otho descended from the Alps 
a second time, deposed the Italian prince, and received the 
imperial crown at the hands of Pope John XII., in 961, in 
Rome, and the iron crown of Lombardy the following year in 
Milan. The greater part of Italy recognized the German su- 
premacy ; only the Greeks sustained themselves in the south. 
Otho sent the bishop Luitprand to Constantinople, to obtain the 
cession of the Greek territories from the Emperor Nicephorus ; 
and when the embassy proved unsuccessful, he entered in 969 
the Greek j^rovinces sword in hand. But a revolution at the 
imperial court of Constantinople restored the friendly relations 
between the two empires. The Greek princess, Theophania, 
gave her hand to young Prince Otho, the successor of his 
father, Otho I., who died immediately after his return to Ger- 
many in 973. 

252. Division and Cities of Italy in 973. — In the 
north, the marquisate of Milan, between the Alps, the upper 
Padus, the Apennines, and the lake of Garda, with the archi- 
episcopal see of Mediolanum, a large number of counties and 
flourishing cities, who began already, under the protection of 
the German king, to augment their privileges and immunities, 
and to give a republican form to their municipal government. 
On the west of Milan lay the marquisates of Ivrea, Susa, 
Montferrat.e and Savona ; and on the east, the county of 
Tridentum (Trent), in the Alps ; the march of Verona, and the 
county of Forum Julii (Friuli), with the Istrian peninsula. Ve- 
rona and Friuli were by the emperor united with the duchy of 
Bavaria, in order that the German feudatories might keep the 
passes of the Alps open for the passage of the imperial armies. 
In central Italy, we find the wealthy and powerful counts or 
marquises of Tuscia, or Tuscany, extending from the march 
of Verona, across the Padus by Ferrara and Modena, through 
Tuscany, to the frontiers of the Papal States. This vast and 
rich territory became, a century later, the celebrated patri- 
mony of Countess Matthildis, and the cause of the violent 
feuds between the Emperor and Pope. Florentia (Florence), 
the seat of a count, was yet a small town on the Arno. Fi&a, 
flourishing by her commerce ; Sena (Siena) ; Canossa, on the 
northern slope of Mount Apennine, the strong and celebrated 
fortress, where Adelheid, the Burgundian princess, sought re- 
fuge against king Berengar, and was rescued by Otho the 
Great. Garda, on the lake of the same name, another castle, 
where Berengar, with great cruelty, had kept the lovely woman 
a prisoner, until she most ingeniously, with the assistance of a 
clergyman, escaped in disguise, and threw herself into Canossa. 
The Patrimonium Sancti Petri, embraced besides the imme- 
diate environs of Rome (Latium, Sabini, and Campania,) 
Southern Tuscany, as far as the river Umbrone, the duchy of 

9 



Spoleto, Ferugia, and a part of the ancient Exarchate on the 
coast of the Adriatic. Rome had still preserved her munici- 
pal government, with all the august but idle titles of anti- 
quity. She extended at that time already beyond the Tiber, 
Pope Leo IV. having, in 849, built and fortified the Civitas 
Leonina, around the cathedral of Saint Peter on the Vatican 
Hill, in order to protect the sanctuary of the apostle against 
the piratical expeditions of the Saracens.*^ During the tenth 
century the august capital of the world became the prey to the 
most violent dissensions between the contending nobles of 
Spoleto and Tusculum. The papal chair was obtained by open 
bribery, by violence and assassination, and the meretricious in- 
fluence of the beautiful countess Theodora, and her still more 
dangerous daughter Mariuccia, who both swayed pope, pre- 
lates, church and all — gave rise to the singular tale about 
Vk female Fope — the Popess Joan X., about 930 ! Consul 
Crescentius, a noble patriot, attempted to restore the ancient 
Roman republic, but Otho III. descended into Italy, stormed 
the castle of Sant Angelo, and the Roman hero perished as a 
martyr for Italian independence, in 998. How forcibly do 
these remote events remind us of those of our present day ! 
Rome in her ruins was still the most beautiful city in the 
western world, and the young emperor, in his enthusiasm for 
southern civilization, resolved already to make her again the 
capital of his modern Roman empire, when he, in 1002, fell 
the victim of his attachment to Stephania, the injured widow 
of Crescentius. 

The sword of the German emperors did not reach into 
Southern Italy. The Greeks having united with the Saracens 
from Sicily, defeated Otho II. near Basentello, on the gulf of 
Tarento, in 981 ; the German army was cut to pieces, and the 
German emperor himself escaped only by half a miracle. In 
the course of time, the Greek cities of Naples, Amalji, and 
Goxta, succeeded in the same manner as Venice, in detach- 
ing themselves from the Byzantine empire, and in gradually 
enlarging their dominion. The principalities of Benevento, 
Gapua, and Salerno, were then the only remains of the king- 
dom of the Lombards. Apulia and Calabria, the last posses- 
sions of the Byzantine emperors in Italy, were governed by cata- 
pans, or vice-regents, who were continually engtged in hostili- 
ties with the Italian princes and republics, and the Saracenic 
emirs of Sicily, until the appearance of Robert Guiscard and 
his Norman warriors, in the beginning of the eleventh century, 
at once changed all the political relations of that terrestrial 
paradise. 

It is in the times of the Saxon emperors — 961-1024 
— that we discover the first formation and early development 
of the celebrated Italian Republics, which later perform so 
brilliant a part in the History of the Middle Ages. The cities 
of Italy, like those of Germany (245, 216) sought security 
behind their walls, against the incursions of the Magyars and 
Saracens ; their power increased rapidly ; the oppressed from 
all parts found in them a refuge from their tyrants. These 
exiles carried with them their industry and their arms, to pro- 
tect the hospitable community that received them : thus every 

'" The many pilgrims from the west and north who visited the shrine 
of the Apostle, had already formed the large and populous suburb of 
the Vatican, and their various habitations were distinguished in tlie 
language of the times as the schohe or vici of the Lombards, Saxons, or 
Greeks. This open town was then inclosed within the fortifications of 
the Castle of Sant Angelo, and called in honor of tlie enterprising Pope, 
the Leonine city. Great ceremonies took place at the inauguration. 
"The walls were besprinkled with holy water ; the young community 
was placed under the guardian care of the Apostles and the Angelic 
hosts, that both the old and the new Rome might ever be preserved 
prosperous and impregnable." 



66 



FIFTH PERIOD.— ROMANO-aERMANIC EMPIRE— HUNGARY. 



village became a fortress, and vied with its neighbor in efforts 
to augment the means for its defence. The dukes, marquises, 
counts, and prelates, who considered these cities as their pro- 
perty, and the citizens as their vassals, soon perceived that 
they had already broken their chains. The nobles then left 
their residences in the towns, which had become disagreeable 
to them, and retired to their castles. But they became sensi- 
ble that to defend these castles they had need of men devoted 
to them; that notwithstanding the advantage which their 
heavy armor gave them when fighting on horseback, they were 
the minority, and they hastened to enfranchise the rural popu- 
lation, to give them arms, and to gain their affections, by granting 
them protection and lands. The effect of this change of system 
was rapid, and soon produced in Northern Italy a new state of 
society : the Lombard free towns, and the landed nobility, who, 
in pursuing tlieir opposite interests, sided, the former with the 
Italian pope, and the latter with the German emperor, and 
reappear two centuries later, in the protracted struggle of the 
Guelphs and Ghibellines. 

During the period of the Saxon and Franconian dynasties 
(973-1039) it became the custom for the German kings, at 
the head of their feudal armies, to undertake a visit or cam- 
■puignmto Italy {de?- Romer-zug), to take the imperial crown at 
Rome, and call together the states of Lombardy at Roncaglia, 
on the banks of the Po, near Placentia. There the emperors re- 
ceived the homage from their Italian feudatories, had their laws 
for their Italian government promulgated, and their treasury 
filled with Italian gold pieces. But the diets or piacita of Ron- 
caglia became in the course of time a mere formality : after a 
stay of some months, occupied with tournaments and festivals, 
the Germans recrossed the mountains ; the Italian nobles retired 
to their castles, the prelates and magistrates to their cities. 
These acknowledging no authority superior to their own, and 
being left to themselves, must necessarily come into collision — 
a collision occasioning a continual petty warfare between the pre- 
lates, supported by the cities on the one side, and the nobles aided 
by their vassals on the other. Italy remained in this state 
until 1039, when Conrad the Salic put an end to these troubles 
by that constitution, which became the basis of the feudal law 
during the following century. By this the inheritance of the 
fiefs was protected from the caprices of the lords, and of the 
crown ; the heer-ban of the seven banners, who were to follow 
the emperor, was instituted on less oppressive conditions ; the 
remaining slaves of the land were set free ; and Italy began to 
enjoy a comparative tranquillity until it was involved in the 
great contest about the investitures between Gregory VII. 
and Henry IV. towards the close of the century. 

XL — Kingdom of the Hungarians. 

253. Their Origin and Conquests. — The gi-eat empire 
of the Avars (149) had been dissolved partly by the defeats 
they suffered from the Franks under Charlemagne in 799-803, 
and partly by the invasion of the Bulgarians, who occu- 
pied their seats in Paunonia, when, about the year 855, 
another barbarous nation from the distant east, the Ugri, Him- 
gri, or, as they called themselves, Magyars, made their appear- 
ance on the Carpathian mountains. They were originally an 
eastern Finnish tribe, whose home was Ugria on Mount 
Oural.'^ During the great migration of the Tartaric Sclavo- 
nian nations in the fifth century, they followed their neighbors, 
the Bulgarians, on their march southward. For a length of time, 

^ " Ufjria, in the Sclavonic language, signifies fallow land, untilled 
soil, steppe, or prairie; thus the nomadic inhabitants on Mouht Ouval 
were called Uhoi'i, Ugri, Ungri, or Hungri, and by the monkish writers 
of the time, Hungari, thn). io, nomades, or vagrants. 



they remained on the lower Volga and the Caspian Sea, but 
having been dislodged by the Petcheneges, and defeated by 
the Russians under Ruric, in their attempt to ascend that 
river, they were obliged to turn westward."* Their wild hordes 
of cavali'y, followed by trains of carts with their families, 
crossed the Dniester and Dniej^er, and spreading through the 
open plains of Dacia, they united there with the relics of the 
vanquished Avars. Thus strengthened in number, and led on 
by their new allies, they penetrated through the defiles of the 
Carpathian mountains, fell suddenly upon the newly settled 
Bulgarians, whom they forced quickly to recross the Danube, 
and advanced westward, occupying all the country between the 
mountains and the Theiss. There, on the plains between that 
river and the Maros, were seen the filthy camps of nearly a 
million of unknown barbarians. The ancient Magyars, like 
the Huns, whom they resembled in ferocity, were divided into 
divisions or swarms, each consisting of thirty thousand horse- 
men, commanded by Voivods, who had elected the brave and 
experienced Arpad as their great Chan or commander-in-chief. 

The Hungarians, though Finns by descent, were a hand- 
some race, possessed of excellent qualities ; but their first ap- 
pearance in Europe inspired a terror and disgust hardly less 
than that of the Huns themselves. They were a nomadic peo- 
ple ; they fed on horseflesh ; they were covered with skins of 
wild animals, though they wore heavy armor made of iron from 
the mines of Mount Oural. Like the Tartars, they adorned their 
long lances with streamers or flags of brilliant colors, which, when 
whirled in the air, and accompanied by their piercing yells, spread 
panic and dismay among the German cavalry who were daring 
enough to oppose their progress. Yet their most terrible weapons 
were bows and arrows. They fought only on horseback. Their 
rapidity, impetuosity, and cruelty, rendered them irresistible, 
and almost incredible were the devastation, bloodshed, and mis- 
ery which this nation for one entire century, from 855 to 
955, brought over every part of central and southern Europe. 
The nobler qualities of the Magyar character have developed 
themselves later, after their conversion to Christianity in a. d. 
1000. Yet even in their heathen darkness, they were not entire- 
ly devoid of principles of justice and faith in their plighted word. 
They possessed remarkable talents for mechanics, manufacturing, 
and arts ; agriculture soon began to flourish on the fertile plains of 
the Theiss and the Danube, and they distinguished themselves in 
different directions from all the other Turkish tribes of the east. 
The warlike disposition and natural ferocity of the Magyars 
never left them in after times, but they served most happily to 
imake that nation a bulwark for Germany and Europe on the 
walls of Belgrade against the Ottoman Turks. 

Suddenly arriving in Avaria — by themselves called Magyar 
Orszagj the present Hungary — they immediately subdued the 
Bulgarian and Sclavonian tribes. On the banks of the Theiss 
they made a halt, no doubt afraid of invading the civilized 
Carlovingian empire beyond that i-iver. Here, to their as- 
tonishment, embassies from the Greek emperor in Constanti- 
nople, requested their aid against the Bulgarians south of 
the Danube. Nay, envoys from the German emperor himself, 
and from his rebellious border-counts, the Moravian mar- 
graves, implored their assistance the one against the other. 
Terrible was the responsibility of the Carlovingian emperor 
Arnulf, in calling in the Hungarians ; they came ; they spread 
devastation, not only in Moravia, where they exterminated 
the inhabitants, but they hurried south through the defiles 
of the Alps, and defeated the Italian counts on the plains of 
Lombardy. Returning again through Bavaria, the burn- 

'^ Constantine Porpliyrogenitus gives some interesting details on the 
first settlement of the Hungarians in Avaria (Pannonia), but he knows 
them only by the name of Turks, and calls their country Turkey. — Be 
Administra.ndo Imperio, cap. .38. 



FIFTH PEKIOD.— HUNGARY— PATZINAKIA— LEON. 



67 



/'ing villages along the Rhine, and in the heart of Lorraine 
' hcyond that river, proclaimed in flaming characters the degra- 
dation of Germany. It was not until the reigu of the brave 
\ Henry I. of Saxony, in 936, that the Magyars were checked 
\ in the terrible battle at Merseburg, and their army at last de- 
ifeated and destroyed in so thoroiigh a manner by the great 
jOtho, on the Lcch-field in 955, that the seven fugi- 
/tives who returned to Hungary to tell the woful tale, 
/ caused the Magyars to relinquish their inhuman warfare, and 
■ never again to invade Germany. The thousands of men, 
women, and children taken pi-isoners by them, contributed 
^much to their civilization ; Christianity advanced it still farther; 
and here it was again a woman — the celebrated Hungarian Prin- 
ss Sarolta, who wielded her sword and mounted her steed 
as boldly as the best Magyar — that was converted and per- 
suaded her yielding husband. King Geisa, in 973, to be bap- 
tized in the Christian faith. King Stephen I. (997-1038) ef- 
fected — after great opposition however — the general introduc- 
tion of Christianity among those barbarians. Strigonium 
(Gran), on the Danube, became the archiepiscopal see for the 
ten dioceses which were established. The Latin language was 
adopted by the king and nobility, and a regular government 
soon effected a change in the manners and character of the 
Magyars. The kingdom became theii divided into seventy- 
tjvo coviitatus or counties, and the feudal system, with mili- 
._ tery tenures, was introduced. The Magyars formed the army ; 
/ the poor Sclavonian subjects were treated like serfs, and kept 
^~in degrading subjection. The Magyars occupied the whole of 
modern Hungary ; o-n the north they bordered on Poland and 
Moravia, on the west their confines reached the Austrian 
( marches ; on the south the Danube separated them from the 
^, great Bulgarian kingdom, and on the east the Carpathian range 
{ protected them against the still more terrible Petcheneges, 
^ then in their most formidable power. The Magyars lived mostly 
in villages, and few cities were founded during this period. 

Buda-Pesth, the ancient Acincum (35, 179), on both banksof 
{the Danube, once the site of the camp of Attila and of the 
[ Avars, became the capital of the Arpadian dynasty of Hungary. 
On the plain east of the Danube, the Magyar nobility on horse- 
back in complete armor, assembled at their national diet, where 
the laws were sanctioned, and all political questions decided. 
This was the celebrated Field of Rakos. Wissegrad and 
CoMORN were strong fortresses on the Danube. Alba Realis 
(Weissenburg), on the southwest. Posony, Preciburg, Pres- 
burg, on the Austrian frontiers. The Carpathian defiles were 
protected by the Magyar tribe of the Szeklers, that is, border- 
wardens, who still, to this day, are the fiercest hussars in the 
world. 

XII. Chanate of the Petcheneges. 

254. Their Territory, Conquests, and Destruction. — 
The Petcheneges — Patzinaks, Patzinakitoe, or Bitchenak, 
as the Byzantine historians call them, were a Tartaric tribe 
from the steppes between the Yaik and the Volga. Having been 
driven from their home by their eastern neighbors, the Kumani, 
they, about the middle of the ninth century, fell upon the Mag- 
yars, themselves the subjects of the Chazars, whom they 
vanquished, and forced to flee westward. The Petcheneges 
pursued them across the Dniester, Dnieper, and Pruth, to the foot 
of the Carpathian mountains. Here they stopped : other tribes 
joined the first, and for more than two centuries this disgusting- 
people occupied the whole immense territory from the Don and 
the Donetz all along the shores of the Black Sea, throughout the 
Walachian plains to the Aluta. This territory they divided among 
their eight numerous hordes, which were subdivided into forty 
smaller clans. Four of the Petchenege hordes occupied the pas- 



ture lands on the east of the Dnieper; theotherfouronthewest.'^' 
Their chiefs were hereditary chans, their nobles were called 
kangars. They extended on the north to the waterfalls of the 
Dniester, where they carried on a continual war with the Rus- 
sians ; on the south they crossed the Danube, and devastated every 
part of Macedonia and Thrace ; the Greeks were in despair ; 
they attempted to pay them off, but by their glittering Byzants 
excited their thirst for gold still more ; a civil war among the 
Barbarians saved Alexius ; Chan Kegen, a distinguished Petch- 
enege, fled the country, was converted, and, at the head of the 
Greek army in 1050, he defeated his countrymen, and settled 
part of them' at Moglena in Macedonia. Yet other hordes 
still continued their incursions, until in 1122 they were attack- 
ed at the same time by the Kumani and Uzi, their ancient ri- 
vals on the Volga, and by Kalo- Johannes, the great emperor. By 
well concerted manoeuvres, the monsters were entrapped at last ; 
there was HO help for them ; they were exterminated with the i 
edge of the sword, and never appear again in history. The/, 
Petcheneges are described as the most beastly and disgusting : 
wretches that ever lived ; they were faithless and perfidious ; 
their avarice was insatiable ; their passions brutish ; their 
favorite food the raw flesh of cats, rats, foxes, wolves ; they wore 
long hair and beards, and flowing garments, like the Tartars,/ 
whose language they spoke. The Petcheneges never quitted \ 
their steeds ; they formed myriads of cavalry, and were as rapid 
in their charges as the arrows they shot off; no spark of huma- 
nity, no ray of cultivation ever reached them ; their detested 
name appears on every page of the Byzantine historians from 
the eleventh century ; and the German monks, in their chroni- 
cles, never omit, when speaking of them, to add the epithets of 
pessiini and vilissiini. Their villages or hut-built towns, were 
called katai; they had some agriculture on the Danube, and a 
lively trade with Cherson, Theodosia, and other Greek cities on 
the Black Sea. They sold their cattle to the Russians, and bar- 
tered their plunder for all sorts of Eastern luxuries, such as 
purple vestments, silken dresses, precious furs, and aromatics. 
After the dispersion of their hordes, some Petchenege strag- 
glers were incorporated into the Greek armies of the Com- 
nenian emperors, in which they rendered good service ; and 
King Zultan of Hungary formed a colony of these monsters on 
his western frontiers, in order to frighten the Germans. 



§ IIL SOUTHERN EUROPE. 

XIII. The Kingdom of Leon. 

255. Extent and Principal Cities. — The kingdom of 
Leon was, in the tenth century, one of the four Christian states 
which had formed themselves in the north of the Spanish penin- 
sula. It occupied the northwestern angle of Spain, and extended 
along the Durius (Duero) eastward to the Piscorica (Pisuerga), 
a tributary of that river, and the eastern frontier toward Cas- 
tile. North of the Asturian ridge the border ran west of 
the Deba to the promontory San Prieto, on the Gulf of Biscay, 
Mare Cantabricum. The southern frontier was very unsettled, 
on account of the continual wars with the Saracens ; the banks 
of the Duero were protected by numerous castles, and the 

" Constantine Porphyrogenitus, in his livelj^ description of tlieir 
country, whicli lie calls Pa(zi7iakia, mentions the barbarous names of 
their tribes, such as Bulat-zospon, Giazi-cJiopon, SyrukalpeX, and Gi/la, 
bet^veen the Danube and the Don, and defines their frontiers as bor- 
dering westward on the Turks (Hungarians), north on the Slavic tribes 
of the Lenzenii, Derblenians (Drewliani), and Russians, and east on 
the Kumani and Uzi in Chazaria, beyond the Aiil (Volga), and on tJie 
Alans still residing in the plains on the Kuban north of Mount Cau- 
casus. 



68 



FIFTH PERIOD.— SPANISH KINGDOMS— CALIPHATE OF CORDOVA. 



Christian knights extended their conquests south to the Mon- 
dego, nay, they reached even the Tagus ; they occupied tem- 
porarily Lissabon, and descended the Djebal Scharrat (Gua- 
darama) to the plain of Medchellet (Magerita), now Madrid, 
then a small Arabian town ; but they could not get any firm 
footino-, and the uncertainty of the occupation caused this re- 
gion to be called extrema Durii, which is the origin of 
the present appellation of Estremadura. The descendants of 
Pelayo had transferred their capital from Gijon on the sea- 
coast to Oviedo (217). Their small territory extended with 
their victories, and under the valiant Ordono II., the four- 
teenth king of Gothia, Leon became, in 918, the royal resi- 
dence. During this period Gallicia, Asturia, Leon, and Old 
Castile became united ; but the danger of the approaching 
storm roused the Arabs to renewed activity. Al Manzor, the 
vizier of Caliph Hashem II. entered the mountains, in 990, with 
a numerous army ; the city of Leon and even the venerated shrine 
of Santiago de Compostela were burnt to the ground, and the 
Moors planted their crescent-banner on the Asturian coast. But 
this effort of the Mohammedans was the last ; they were totally 
routed in the chivalrous battles of Kula'at-Anosor in 998, and 
at Osma in 1001 ; and the subsequent union of the kingdom of 
Leon with the independent coimty of Castile in 1038, by the 
marriage of Don Fernando of Castile with Dona Sancha, the 
sister of King Bermudo III. of Leon, secured henceforth the 
frontier line of the Duero. Ovetum (Oviedo), the ancient 
capital, on a steep hill that rises in the midst of an undulating 
plain between the Nora and the Nalon. Ccmgas de Onis, on the 
Cella, stands at a short distance from the Abbey of our Lady 
of Cavadonga, which occupies the site where Pelayo in 712 first 
planted the standard of independence. Santiago de Cojnjjos- 
tela, with its magnificent cathedral, its saints, treasury, pilgri- 
mages, and superstition. Astiirica (Astorga). Braga. Zamora 
on the northern bank of the Duero, where, on the Campi Go- 
thici, north of the city, so many bloody battles were fought be- 
tween Christians and Moslems during the tenth century. 
Car7-io7i, on the river of the same name, where King Bermudo 
III. fell in battle against his brother-in-law, Don Fernando of 
Castile, in 1 037. The ancient Visigothic institutions were still 
preserved in their antiquated forms, although the frequent 
wars had given extension to the royal authority. The diets 
continued to be assembled in Oviedo ; the habits of the people 
were still austere and warlike, yet a chivalrous character was 
perceptible, which communicated itself to the Saracens on 
the frontiers, and produced the most romantic instances of bril- 
liairt valor, tender love, and religious fanaticism. 



XIV. County of Castile. 

256. Origin, Extent, and Cities. — Castile is said to 
have been so called from the great number of castles — castillos 
— which were its means of defence against the Moors, and the 
residences of petty princes whom ambition armed against one 
another. Many Goths had retreated into the mountains north 
of the Tagus, where, in the beginning of the tenth century, 
the Counts of Burgos extended their power, and though they, 
for a while, acknowledged the supremacy of the neighboring 
Kings of Leon, they soon after their victories over the Moors, 
declared themselves independent. King Ordolio II. assassi- 
nated the haughty Count Nuno Fernandez of Castile, but this 
criminal act produced a revolution among the Castilians, 
who, in 933, maintained their independence. The wars with 
the Moors continued ; the Duero became the permanent frontier, 
and in 1038, Castile was united with Leon to the great advan- 
tage of both. Burgos, a dark, old-fashioned city, abounding 
in convents and sanctuaries ; the cathedral is one of the oldest 



and most elegant Gothic churches in Spain. Oxima (Osma) 
and Kula'at-Anosor, celebrated by victories which the Chris- 
tians here gained over the Moslems. 



XV. Kingdom of Navaf>.ra. 

257. Origin, Extent, and Division. — The realm of Na- 
varra or Pampiluna, which comprised Biscaya (Viscaya), on 
the north, and Aragon on the east, extended along the Gulf 
of Biscay and the Pyrenees, somewhat south of the sources of 
the Ebro, to those of the river Aragon, a tributary of the former. 
Though the Arabs, at the time of their settlement in Spain, did 
not succeed in subduing the Visigoths in their northwestern 
strongholds of the Asturian mountains, they soon appeared on 
the Ebro, occupied Ccasaraugusta (Zaragoza), and forcing the 
northeastern defiles of the Pyrenees invaded France, and set- 
tled in Septimania (158). Yet the Saracen icalis or gover- 
nors, in their rebellions against the Ommiyad emirs of Cor- 
dova, called to their assistance the victorious arms of Pepin- 
le-Bref and Charlemagne, who, as we have seen (184), formed 
the border province of the Spanish marches south of the moun- 
tains. It consisted of the Marca Navarrensis, the Co?iii- 
tatus Jc.ccensis (Jaca), Ripaciircice (Ribagorza), and Barci- 
nonce (Barcelona), which did not extend south to the valley of 
the Ebro, still in the possession of the Arabs. During thts 
disorders which disturbed the Carlovingian empire in the ninth 
century, the border counts in the Pyrenees made themselves 
independent of the French crown. Garsias Arista took, about 
850, the royal title; his successors ruled until the year 1000, 
and in successful wars against the Moors, they extended their 
territory over the greater part of Aragon. SanchoIII.,e/il'/ayo;-, 
an excellent chief, divided his kingdom between his four sons 
in 1033 ; and we find at that time the following provinces un- 
der the crown of Navarra: 

I. The kingdom of Pampiluna (Pamplona, with Canta- 
BRiA (Najara, Rioja), south, on the Ebro. Pamplona, on 
the Arga, was the capital. Logrono, on the Ebro. II. The 
county of Aragon on the east, with the strong city of Jaca 
commanding the plains. III. Sobrarbe, farther east, under 
the highest pinnacles of the Pyrenees. IV. Ribagorza, with 
the county of Pallars, which had been wrested from the French. 
V. Viscaya (Vascongadas), on the west of Navarra, divided 
into the three Basque provinces, Biscaya, Alava, and Ipuscoa, 
(Guipuzcoa). This was the rugged home of the old Cantabri^ 
who made such a gallant stand against the Romans, and pre- 
served their independence until the time of Augustus. Their 
descendants, the Basques, are still distinguished by their ac- 
tivity and bravery, and have found in their unfruitful soil the 
palladium of their liberty. Victoria (Vitoria), the capital, 
was the place where King Sancho defeated the Arabs ; it lies 
in a fertile plain surrounded by magnificent scenery. The 
Vascongadas and Rioja fell to Castile in 1200. 

The Counts of Barcelona in Catalonia (Gotholaunia) 
had become independent of France toward the close of the 
ninth century. The Catalonians were early distinguished by 
commerce and warlike adventures through the whole Mediter- 
ranean Sea ; their history is very interesting, and they became 
a powerful nation when their Count Raymond Berengar ob- 
tained by marriage the throne of Aragon, a. d. 1137. 

XVI. Caliphate of Cordova. 

258. Extent, Division, and , Principal Cities. — Since 
the establishment of the emirate of Cordova by the Ommiyad, 
Abd-er-Raman, in 755, the Arabs had suffered many defeats 
by the Asturian heroes ; but they soon recovered the lost ter- 



FIFTH PERIOD.— CALIPHATE OF CORDOVA— SICILY— CROATIA. 



69 



ritory, aud during the whole of the ninth century, the Duero 
and the valley of the Ebro remained the contested frontier line 
between the two races. Nineteen caliphs of the Ommiyad 
dynasty ruled in Spain (Andalos) from 755 to 1038, when 
that family became extinct on the death of Hashem IV. It 
was the most brilliant period in the annals of the Arabian na- 
tion, and the Spanish cities were then adorned with those 
master works of Saracenic architecture, mosques, alcazars, 
aqueducts, baths, and other public buildings, the ruins of which 
are still the admiration of the present day. The reign of Abd- 
er-Rhaman III. (912-961) is the period of the highest devel- 
opment of Arabian civilization, literature, and art in Spain ; 
and the Caliph was as distinguished for his brilliant valor 
against the Gothic princes in the battles at Zamora on the 
Duero, as for the amiable qualities of his mind and heart. His 
worthy son, Al-Hakim II., followed (961-976) in the steps 
of his father; with him the enthusiasm for books, science, 
poetry, history, and natural philosophj', became a violent pas- 
sion. We read with astonishment in Conde of the seventy 
libraries, seventeen Mohammedan universities and high schools 
of learning ; of the six large and flourishing capitals of the 
Walis : Korthoba (Cordova), Elbira (Grenada), Ischbilia (Se- 
ville), Tholaithala (Toledo), Sarakostha (Zaragoza), and 
Djesh-Shukar (Valencia) ; of eighty cities of a second rank ; 
0% the three hundred smaller towns, and the twelve thousand 
hamlets situated on the charming banks of the Guadalquiver 
alone. In Korthoba were six hundi-ed mosques, fifty hospitals 
for benevolent purposes, nine hundred public baths ; the yearly 
revenues of the caliphate amounted to twelve millions of gold 
pieces without the contributions of the alcabala and almojari- 
fazgo. Agriculture, irrigation, and gardening progressed equally 
with the literature and philosoj^hical cultivation of that period. 
The bravery, piety, and romantic amours of the Spanish knights 
excited the noblest emulation among the Moslem cavaliers, van- 
quished the prejudices of the Koran, and raised the Saracen 
woman to a standard of esteem and admiration which she never 
enjoyed in the East. It was during this period, when were 
called forth those warlike virtues which will ever glitter in its 
beautiful ballads and romances, that on the frontiers of the 
contending Christian and Mohammedan nations, two singular 
races of men arose — the Moslem Rabites and the Christian 
Almugavares. They were warriors (guerillas) or borderers, 
who lived by the sword as wardens of the frontiers, and, in 
their armature, tactics, and manners, formed the most curious 
contrast. During their alternate hostility and friendly inter- 
course with each other, those fantastical ideas of politics, reli- 
gion, and customs originated, which we, a century later, meet 
again on the shores of Palestine among the crusading Templars, 
the Syrian Pulani, and the Circassian Mamlooks. 

XVII. Emirate of Sicily and the Smaller. Islands. 

259. The Aglabid Dynasty on the Islands. — At the 
beginning of the ninth century, most of the larger islands of 
the Mediterranean were occupied by Saracen corsairs — Crete, 
Cyprus, Rhodes, Sardinia, the Baleares, Corsica, fell into their 
power — ^yet none became so flourishing as Sikiliah (Sicily), 
which, in 826, was invaded by the Aglabid king, Ziade-tallah 
I., of Magrab, in northern Africa, and remained imder the 
sway of the Fatimid dynasty, which succeeded in 940, until 
the conquest of the island by Count Roger, the Norman, in 
1069. Sicily had already for a long time been exposed to the 
piratical descents of the Arabs, before they were invited as 
auxiliaries of the Greek general, Empedocles, in the year 826, 
during his rebellion against the Emperor Michael the Stam- 
merer. The Arabs answered readily to the appeal. Hassan- 
Ben-el-Terath landed on the island, and a bloody war com- 



menced, which continued for many years, and terminated with 
the conquest of Palermo and Syracuse by the Aglabid war- 
riors of Tunis, who changed the whole splendid island into an 
Arabian emirate ;' " yet the inhabitants retained their old rights 
and privileges, and soon acquired an afl"ection for their Moslem 
conquerors on account of their just and creditable government 
and unusual liberal views in religious matters. Beneath the mild 
sway of the Agiabids and Fatimid chiefs (caliphs), a multitude 
of Arabic cities and castles rose in the island ; splendid manu- 
factures were established, and the rich soil was carefully culti- 
vated. The sugar-cane was transplanted from Egypt, manna 
from Persia, and cotton from Asia Minor. The olive-tree was 
sedulously tended, and propagated all over the island ; com- 
merce flourished ; numbers of merchant vessels daily arrived 
or departed from the difi"erent Sicilian ports laden with rich 
cargoes. The objects of magnificence and luxury which com- 
merce brought together, served in part to embellish the Sara- 
cenic castles, which were besides enriched with the treasures 
and precious booty carried home by the Arabic corsairs from 
their predatory excursions on all the Italian coasts. 

Sardinia, Corsica, and the Balearic Islands were at the 
same time occupied by the Zeirites, who had formed another 
powerful empire — a. d. 960 — ruling the extensive coasts of 
Africa, after the concentration of the Fatimid caliphs in Cairo 
in Egypt. 



XVIII. Kingdom of Croatia. 

260. Extent and Princifal Cities. — The Sclavonic na- 
tion of the Chrobats (Croa.ts) had occupied the coast lands of 
Dalmatia in 628 (196), where they, under their Zupanies or 
chiefs, recognized the sovereignty of Chaidemagne (187). But 
about the year 970, during the reign of the emperor Otho the 
Great, they suddenly appear as a powerful nation, under the sway 
of a Weliki Ziqxin or Grand Duke, who could muster 150,000 
horse and foot in the field, and extended his conquests along 
the coast and the numerous isles of the Adriatic Gulf Every 
Croat was a born soldier. Christianity soon spread among 
them, and brought them into friendly relations with the island- 
ers. Yet the great Croatian kingdom did not maintain itself; 
the different Croatian tribes quarrelled among themselves. 
The sly and active Venetian republicans planted the banner 
of Saint Marc on the towers of Yadra (Zara), Sebenigo, and 
other cities ; they made Spalatro their commercial empo- 
rium, and when King Koloman appeared with his Hungarian 
cavalry in 1102, the Croatians were speedily brought to that 

^^ Of the cajstiire of Syracuse we have an interesting account from 
an eye-witness (a. d. 880) : " Thcodosius, tlie monk, sends his salutation 
to Leo, the archdeacon. We have held out ten months, during which 
tim.5 we have fought often by day and many times by night, by water, 
by land, and under the ground. The grass which grows upon the roofs 
was our food, and we caused the bones of animals to be powdered, in 
order to use them for meat. At length children were eaten, and terri- 
ble diseases were the consequence of famine. Confiding in the secu- 
rity of our towers, we hoped to hold out until we received succor ; the 
strongest of our towers was overthrown, and we still resisted for three 
weeks. In an instant when, exhausted by heat, our Avarriors took re- 
spite, a general storm was made on a sudden oy the Maugrebin, and the 
town was taken. ~W"e fled into the chui'ch of St. Salvator ; the enemy 
followed us, and bathed his sword in the blood of our magistrates, 
priests, monks, old men, women, and children ; a thousand in number 
were put to death before the town ; the governor, Nicetas of Tarsus, 
was tortured ; the houses were burnt, the acropolis destroyed. On the 
day when they celebrated Abraham's sacrifice (Bairam), the monsters 
wished to burn us with the bishop; but an old emir of great authority 
saved us. This is written at Palermo, fourteen feet under ground, 
among innumerable captives — Jews, Africans, Lombards, Christian and 
unchristian people, whites and Moors." 



70 



FIFTH PERIOD.— THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE. 



subjection under the Magyar rod, from which we have seen 
them make a desperate effort to deliver themselves, so late as 
1848. 

The great Zupaiiatc of Ci:oatia com^jrised the regions 
situated between the coast of the Adriatic Gulf, the Drave, 
and the Danube, until its junction with the Save. Posega in 
Sclavonia, and Dresnec southwest, were the most important 
cities. Narenta, on the coast, was inhabited by a band of in- 
dependent corsairs, who, in the earlier period, made their name 
feared all along the coasts of the Adriatic. 



XIX. Byzantine Empire. 

261. Extent, Imperial Court, and Administration. — 
The latter years of the reign of Otho the Great — 963-973 — 
present some of the most brilliant pages in the annals of the 
eastern Roman empire. The warlike Nicephorus Phocas had 
crossed Mount Taurus, and reconquered Antioch and northern 
Syria from the Arabs in 968, and his murderer and sviccessor, 
the crafty, but talented John Tzimisces, vanquished the Rus- 
sians, reduced the powerful kingdom of Bulgaria to a depend- 
ent province of the empire, and led his victorious army beyond 
the Euphrates, to the distant plains of Mesopotamia, while the 
helpless Caliph fled trembling to his sanctuaries in Bagdad. 
The greater part of these extensive conquests were soon lost 
after the return of the mighty warrior; but Antioch, with the 
cities of Cilicia and the isles of Cyprus and Crete, remained a 
permanent and important accession to the Roman Empire. 
We find its frontiers, a. d. 973, almost the same as in the 
second period, on the accession of Justinian in 527 : on the 
north the Euxine Sea, the Danube, the Save, and the Drinus ; 
on the west and south the Mediterranean ; and on the east the 
upper Euphrates, the Tigris, the Araxes and Mount Caucasus; 
thus embracing within the eastern Roman frontiers part of 
northern Syria, part of Mesopotamia, Great Armenia, Iberia, 
Lazica, and the coast lands of Mount Caucasus. Constantino- 
ple had passed through the most frightful vicissitudes since 
we left her toward the close of the sixth century. She had seen 
the immense armies of the Persian Chosroes encamped along the 
Bosphorus in 616-621 ; she had heroically repelled the Saracens 
from her walls in 668-675, and burnt their entire armada with 
her Greek fire in 7 16. Her sufferings had been increased by the 
internal disturbances between the fanatic image-ivorshijij^ers — 
dKovo^ov\oi — and image-breakers — eiKovoKAao-Tai, and by the 
loss of nearly all her European provinces through the continual 
invasions of the Sclavonian and Tartaric hordes from the Da- 
nube ; while the bigotry and arrogance of her hierarchy, the sloth 
or incapacity of several of her emperors, and the general luxury 
and degeneracy of her inhabitants at different periods, would, to 
a distant observer, have seemed to forebode a speedy catastrophe. 
Yet her splendid position and impregnable walls, the wonderful 
pliancy and vitality of the Greek race, and the many distinguished 
minds which successively appeared in the moment of danger, 
carried her victoriously through all these vicissitudes. Brighter 
days began to dawn on the venerable metropolis of the civ- 
ilized world, on the accession of Basilius the Macedonian, in 
867. During the sway of the Macedonian dynasty — 867-1056 
— active and enlightened monarchs, brave and daring generals, 
and intelligent statesmen, restored and strengthened the 
sinking empire. The ancient Roman ideas, language, and insti- 
tutions have now vanished ; the Byzantine-Greek period has 
begun, and a general amelioration, a greater activity in the 
administration, a stricter economy in the treasury, a better or- 
ganization of the army, and a more liberal diplomacy with 
foreign states, becomes distinctly perceptible. Friendly em- 
bassies are sent to Charlemagne and the great caliph Haroun- 



ar-Raschid in Bagdad. Byzantine princesses are given in 
marriage to foreign princes ; Theophauia, the daughter of the 
Emperor Roinanus II., marries Otho II. of Germany; and her 
sister Anna, as the wife of the Grand-Duke Wladimir, carries 
civilization to Russia. All the Sclavonian tribes, which, dur- 
ing the storms of the seventh and eighth centuries, had settled 
in Greece — in the peninsula of Peloponnesus (Morea), and in 
Northern Hellas — have been christianized, hellenized, and 
brought to the allegiance of the empire (198) ; and so have the 
Bulgarians in Macedonia, and the Servians in western Illyri- 
cum. Treaties of commerce are contracted with the flourish- 
ing cities in Italy ; the Sclavonic nations on the Danube 
carry the precious Byzantine silk and wool manufactures to 
the markets of Germany, while Cherson, on the Taurian penin- 
sula, becomes the great emporium for the exports of the south 
to Russia and the distant countries on the Baltic. 

262. Constantinople was still the most magnificent city 
in Christendom ; she still possessed the civilization and wealth 
of the ancient Roman Empire, and was the great emporium of 
eastern commerce.^ ' The influence of the^ Greek Church, and of 
the Justinian legislation had, however, rendered the imperial 
government a perfect despotism. The emperor had the title of 
aijTOKpa.T(op ; the princes or co-regents were called Augusti, or 
ae/Saa-ToL The imperial costume was splendid — purple anjd 
gold ; the entire court officials were dressed in white. The se- 
nate had lost its prerogatives and power ; ot AoyaSe?, or the 
elect, formed a committee of its members, sometimes called 
together on pompous occasions. The imperial council, consis- 
torivm 'jjrincijjis, or in the corrupt Greek of that period, ro 
paviXiKov %eKp€Tov, was arbitrarily nominated by the emperor 
among his confidential friends and favorites. The strictest 
etiquette was observed among the courtiers and officials in 
their different subordinate ranks. The sons-in-law of the em- 
peror had the supervision of the numerous imperial palaces, as 
curopalatcs, or eTrtVpoTrot ; thirty silentiarii took care of the 
internal order, in which they were assisted by the loathsome 
eunuchs — ot Kapr^t/xaSes — who already had obtained so bane- 
ful an influence, that they ranked among the patricians — 
01 TTaTp'.Kiot emov'xoi, and aspired to the highest dignities in 
the state ; nay, these wretches even entered the church, they 
became patriarchs, and the eunuch monks paraded as Trpu. 
ToxpakTai, or choristers, at the pompous religious festivals. The 
emperors were fettered down to the most ridiculous ceremo- 
nial, which necessarily must have crushed their noblest dispo- 
sitions and talents ; but it Avas only by thus shrouding them- 
selves from the mass of the people, and making a pompous 
show of their wealth and power to the foreign nations, that 
they still could be regarded as the legitimate rulers of the civ- 
ilized world.'- Charlemagne they recognized as Emperor of 

" Benjamin de Tudela, the celebrated Jewish traveller, who visited 
Constantinople in the twelfth century, bursts forth in rapture at the 
display of the Byzantine riches. "It is here," he says, " in the queen of 
cities, that the tributes of the Eastern Empire are annually dej)osite(3, and 
the lofty towei-s are filled with precious deposits of silk, purple, and 
gold. It is here that the sovereign every day receives twenty thousand 
gold pieces, which are levied on the stores, taverns, and bazaars, on the 
merchants of Persia and Egypt, of Russia and Hungary, of Italy and 
Spain, who frequent the brilliant capital by sea and land." 

^^ The ceremony of the reception of foreign ambassadors, took 
place in the gorgeous hall of the Chryaotriclinium, forming part of 
the great Augusteum palace, between the Cathedral of Sancta Sophia 
and the Hippodrome. There, the emperor, on his golden throne, in liis 
snow-white tunic, purple mantle, and purple buskins, receives the fo- 
reign ambassadors, who, passing through endless files of body guards 
and household officers, all dressed in the most brilliant variety of armor 
and court-dresses, beneath colonnades, hung with trophies, embroidered 
drapery and waving banners, on a road covered with Persian carpets, 
or strown over with roses, myrtle, and oleander, at last enter the golden 
palace of the Empress and imperial princesses. Sweet perfumes breathe 



FIFTH PERIOD.— THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE. 



71 



the West ; but Otho the Great they treated disdainfully, as a 
barbarian usurper, until the German sword swept away their 
possessions in Italy. The support of such a court required 
the most exorbitant taxation ; and, indeed, never was a gov- 
ernment known so ingeniously to oppress the poor toiling 
nation as the Byzantine, with its tolls, collections, gifts, duties, 
customs, house-taxes — to Ka-n-vtKov — income-assessments — 
TrepiacroirptxKTLa — stamp duties — ;^aprtaTiKo;/, and fifty others. 
Thegold byzants — vwepTrepa — byzantini — ruled the world then, 
as a century ago, the Spanish doubloons, and at the present day, 
the American eagles. The financial administration seems to 
have been the most complex and important branch of the pub- 
lic service. The emperors always reserved to themselves the 
immediate direction of this department ; but they did not omit 
to give their full attention to the army, as is proved by the in- 
teresting work of Leo VI. on that subject. Many reforms had 
been undertaken in the organization of the Greek armies, since 
the time of Belisarius and Narses under Justinian I. The most 
select bodies of trooj^s consisted of the imperial life-guards, the 
celebrated bands of the northern warriors : the Varanghi (226), 
to whose care the person of the emperor, and the guard of the 
palace and treasury were intrusted.^ ^ Then followed in rank the 
Pcrsarmenian, Cliazar, and Avar guards, all in their national 
costume and armor. The throne being thus protected by 
foreign swords, the Byzantine army itself was organized for 
the defence of the frontiers of the empire. The native troops 
raised in the provinces were formed into one hundred and 
thirty-two legions or themes — ^ijj.aTa — each of a thousand or 
fifteen hundred men. The most celebrated of the European 
themes were the Thracian, Macedonian, and Illyrian, whose 
ranks were filled with Sclavonian, Wallachian, Bulgarian, and 
Albanian mountaineers. The Greek cavalry which had 
adopted the armature of the Avars (149) was numerous, 
on account of the continual equestrian warfare with the Tar- 
tars on the Danube, and with the Saracens in the east. The 
Byzantine commanders and officers had pompous and barbarous 
titles ; generals, (TTpareyoL — colonels, iioipapy^ai, Spouyyaptot — 
ensigns, or dragon-bearers, SpaKovT€iO(f)6poL — clraconarii. The 
foot was marshalled m eight lines, the horse in four ; their 
flanks were covered with rear-guards — rrXayto^vXaKes ; squad- 
rons of light horse — vTrepKepdcrrai — were sent round to outflank 
the enemy ; skirmishers — Kovpcr6pe<;, and spies — a-KovXKaTope? — 

fragrance around ; and when the astonished barbarians ascend the last 
marble stairs of the audience hall, and at the signal of the master of 
ceremonies the curtains and hangings disappear on high, and they behold 
the handsome emperor and his beautiful queen, surrounded by a glit- 
tering court, they almost involuntarily kneel down in admiration. 
But a new surprise awaits them. The silver and golden lions, 
gigantic beasts, adorning the flanks of the throne, spring forward on 
their hind legs, and begin to roar furiously, while thousands of artifi- 
cial birds of various colors and plumage flit about on the branches of an 
immense golden palm-tree overshadowing the imperial throne, and min- 
gle their songs with the clangor of the trumpets and the roaring of 
the lions. 

The poor barbarians, Tartars, Sclavonians or Chazars, lie now pros- 
trate on their faces, and have entirely lost their wits. Even the bold 
German knights, who hitherto have despised all the pomp, begin to 
tremble, and what is worse, forget their speeches. How the merry em- 
press and her lively Greek court ladies enjoy the embarrassment and 
awkward superstition of those barbarians, who, if not kept at bay by 
the tricks, the ingenuity, and superior civilization of Constantinople, 
might arise in their might, and with one blow dash the whole fragile 
vessel of the empire into a thousand fragments. 

^^ The Varanghians, who were tlie leading coi'ps of the imperial 
guards, suffered none but Scandinavians in their ranks; while the less 
favored corps were composed promiscuously, of Fi'anks, Russians, and 
other Sclavonians. It was not until after the battle of Hastings, in 1066, 
and the subjection of England under the iron rod of William the Con- 
queror, that numbers. of Anglo-Saxons, fleeing the oppression at home, 
emigrated to Constantlno]ile, where they, as bretliren of the Northmen, 
were permitted to enter the ranks of the Ynran ',lii, 



were scouring the environs of the camp. The baggage 
was called rouASov ; the pay, po'ya ; their exercises and manoeu- 
vres were superintended by the magjrus drungarius. Constan- 
tinople had excellent manufactures of arms, and the crusa- 
ders, two centuries later, were astonished at the pomp of the 
Byzantine armies ; but the weapons of the Greek warriors were 
of a better temper than their courage.'^ The high admiral of the 
fleet, the grand duke — 6 /xeyas Zov^ — commanded the numer- 
ous divisions of battle ships and galleys — aypdpta, and Spo/Aoves 
— which were distributed in the magnificent ports on the Eux- 
ine, the Bosphorus, and the islands of the Mediterranean.*' 
Yet the greatest art, ingenuity, and excellence did the Byzan- 
tine Greeks display in their fortifications, and the artillery or 
engines by which they were defended. It was the terrible 
Greek fire — to vypbv Trip — the invention of the Syrian engi- 
neer, Kallinikos, which in 668, and 718, had saved Constanti- 
nople, during the sieges of the fanatic Saracens. This naphtha, 
or liquid bitvunen, a light, tenacious, and inflammable oil, 
mingled with sulphur and pitch, they launched through iron 
tubes, from the Avails or ships, with the most destructive ef- 
fect, on the works or shipping of the terrified enemy. That 
invention has perished with the middle ages, but we still ad- 
mire at the present day tlie solid and magnificent walls, tow- 
ers, sally-gates and subterraneous passages, aqueducts, and cis- 
terns, reared on hundreds of columns, in Constantinople, An- 
tioch, and many other places. 

263. Military Division of the Provinces and Fron- 
tiers OF the Empire. — The changes which the Byzantine 
government had undergone since the times of Justinian, ren- 
dered a new provincial division necessary ; and we find in the 
tenth century the empire divided into twenty-nine districts, 
themes — ©e/xara — with regard to administration and military 
defence. The exact period when the ancient Roman prasfec- 
tures and provinces were superseded hj the themes, is not 
known ; yet it appears certain that these existed in part already 
in the seventh century, during the reign of Heraelius (610- 
641). The emperor Constantino VII., Porphyrogenitus (914- 
959), an author like his father, Leo VI. Philosophus (886- 
911), describes that institution as having already long existed, 
and undergone several changes, before his own times. Every 
theme was governed by a strategos, who held the civil govern- 
ment and the command of the troops in the district somewhat 
similar to that of an ancient Roman proconsul, though placed in a 
smaller province. He enjoyed the first rank in the seven 
classes of the Byzantine court-dignitaries, and was assisted in 
his functions by subordinate officers, such as the border-wardens 
— KXcuTovpapxo-t — the commanders of the cavalry — IXapxai — 
Tovpf^dpxo-L, and many others. Every theme contributed to 
the defence by a national guard, by contributions of horses, 
arms, and provisions for the imperial army. We shall now 
give a short description of the themes, in the order in which 
we find them mentioned by the emperor.*" 

^^ In spite of all the show and glitter of tlieir armies, the Greeks 
enjoyed but little credit with the knights of western Europe. The 
envoy of Otho the Great, Bishop Luitprand, of Cremona, who has left 
us an interesting description of his embassy to the Court of Nicepho- 
rus Phoeas, says : " that tlie emperor was surrounded by dastard syco- 
phants and parasites ; that the whole city floated in voluptuousness ; 
that the strength of the imperial government rested on the battle- 
axes of the Northmen of the body-guard ; for I firmly believe," says 
the lively Bishop-Envoy, " that four hundred German knights, in the 
open field, would put the Avhole Greek army completely to flight." 

^^ During the reign of Leo VI., the Byzantine fleet consisted of 60 
dromones, each manned hj 230 rowers and "70 warriors. 

^'^ Constantini Porphyrogeniti de thematibus et de admintstrando 
imperia liber, forms tlie 3d volume in the Bonn edition of the Byzan- 
tine historians. 1840. See interesting details by John W. Zinkeisen, in 
his excellent "Gesehichte Griechenlands," Leipzig, 1832, vol. i. p. '791- 
803 — the best work liitherto published on Mediaeval Greece, though un- 
happily still uuf:iUo!;ed. 



72 



FIFTH PERIOD.— THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE. 



A Themes of the Byzantine Empire in Asia Minor. 

2G4. I. TiiEMA Anatolicum — ©e/xa 'AvttToAiKw — embraced 
a portion of the ancient Lycaonia, Phrjgia, Galatia, and 
Pisidia, north of Mount Taurus. Iconium was perhaps the 
metropolis ; other cities were the Phrygian Antiocit, Sijnnada, 
and Fcssinus.^^ 

II. Thema Armeniacum — ©e'/Att 'Ap/x€KtaKoV — north of the 
former, on the shores of the Pontus Euxinus, comprised part 
of the ancient Paphhxgonia, Grah\tia, and Pontus, with the 
cities Amasia, Neokaisareia, and SinojK. The emperors, 
in their vanity, gave this district 'the name of Armenian, at 
a time when the important border-province of the industri- 
ous and commercial Armenian Christians had been lost to the 
Saracens. 

III. Thema Thracesiorum — ©e/^a ©paKrjo-tW — west of 
Anatolikon, consisted of the interior parts of Caria, Lydia, and 
Phrygia, on the rivers Maiandros, Hermos, and Kaikos, with 
the well-known cities of Sajrleis, Phi/adc/jjhia, Aphradisias, 
Alabanda, Th-i/atira, Kolossai (Chonai), and irtOf^iZ-eia. This 
district received its name from the Thraciau legion quartered 
there. Thracian colonies were likewise settled in the interior. 

IV. Thema Obsequium — 0e'/>ia 'O^Cklov — north of the 
former, took its naiue from the household officers or satellites, 
who surrovmded the emperor. It extended from the Dasky- 
laion promontory on the Propontis, eastward to the Sangarios, 
and south to Mounts Diudymon and Ida, thus embracing por- 
tions of ancient Troy, Mysia, Phrygia, and Bithynia. It was 
one of the richest and best cultivated provinces of the east, 
with ten flourishing cities. Nikaia was the metropolis ; Dory- 
laion, Midaion, Apameia, Myrleia, Prusa, DragotJia, Kydis- 
sos, and Apollonia. After the defeat of the Bulgarians in 971, 
John Tzimisces transported large bodies of that people into Asia 
Minor, where they settled in the valley of Rhyndakos, near 
Kotyaion (Kutayah). 

265. V. Thema Optimatum — ©e/xa 'O-n-TLfjiaTov — north of 
the former, is the ancient Bithynia, was governed by an officer 
called domcstikos, who commanded a select body of Palatine 
troops — LKavdroi. Nikomedia was the metropolis : Uelenopo- 
lis, Astakos, and Parthenojwlis. Justinian had built a mag- 
nificent bridge across the Sangarios. 

VI. Thema Bucellariorum — ©e/xa BovKeA,A.apiW — received 
its curious name from the sutlers — /SovKeXXdpLOi — of the Greek 
army, who furnished the soldiers with bread and provisions 
{/3ovKe\\oL) during their campaigns. It was formed of the 
northern part of Bithynia and the western portion of Gralatia, 
and extended to the river Halys. The metropolis was An- 
kyra; with Herakleia and Teo7t on the Pontus, Klatidio2)oHs 
and Krateia in the interior. 

VII. Thema Paphlagonum — ©c'/xa na(/)A.ayoFOJi/ — the an- 
cient province of that name^ along the shores of the Black 
Sea, between the rivers Billakos and Halys. The Paphlago- 
nians, like the Cappadocians and Cilicians, had a very bad 
reputation as scamps and charlatans. The metropolis was 
G-angra (Germanikopolis), on the mountains in the interior. 
Sora, Dalibra, Jonopolis, Pompeio'polis, and Amastra, Avere 
other cities on the sea-coast. 

266. VIII. Thema CHALni.E— ®e/xa XaA.8tas — east of the 
Armenian thema, the ancient Pontus, all along the sea ; it ex- 
tended southeast to the upper valley of the Euphrates. Tra- 
PEZUS (Trebizond), was the metropolis ; the Greek colonies on 
the coast were still commercial and flourishing. Theodosiopo- 
Hs (Erzerum), on the western branch of the Euphrates, near 
the frontiers of Great Armenia. 

" We follow hero the Greek orthography. 



IX. Thema Mesopotami-e — ©e/xaMecroTrora/y.ias — the ancient 
Armenia Quarta, and the northwestern part of Sophene, lay 
south of Chaldia, and extended beyond the Euphrates. It was a 
small border province, which had been surrendered by the Ar- 
menian chief, Pangkratukas, and his brothers, together with 
their castles, to Leo VI., Philosophus. The emperor gave it 
the organization of a theme, and sent a strategos with troops 
for the defence of the defile — Kkucrovpa — on the headspring of 
the Tigris, leading into the Saracenic province of Mesopotamia. 
The cities were Kitharizon on the eastern Euphrates, Roma- 
no'polis, Asramosata, Mazara, and Kolchis. 

X. Thema Colonic — ©e/xa KoXcovetas — northwest of the 
former, on the table-lands of Armenia, took its name from the 
strong fortress Koloneia, situated on a precipitous rock on the up- 
per Lykos. Neokaisareia, on the lower Lykos, was the metropo- 
lis, and the birth-place of Gregorius, the great tJiaumatiirgos^ 
or miracle- worker. Tephrikc — Te<^pu<T; (now Divrigni) — in a 
deep valley between the towering mountain-ranges of Skoidises 
and Anti-Taurus, was the centre and principal stronghold of 
the early Protestants of the East — the calumniated and perse- 
cuted Paulicians IlauXiKiavoi. During the ninth century, 

Tephrike became the scene of the bloody wars which Michael 
III. and Basilius I., the Macedonian, waged against that en- 
lightened and more philosophical sect, so hated and feared by 
the bigoted clergy of the Greek church. The Paulicians, 
maddened to despair by the cruel execution of the intolerant 
decrees of the Empress Theodora, rushed to arms ; they forti- 
fied themselves in the impervious mountain-fastnesses of Te- 
phrike and Koloneia. They received powerful support from 
the Saracens beyond the Euphrates--Unitarians like them- 
selves — and under the command of Korbeas, their enthusiastic 
preacher and skilful general, they defeated in several battles 
the dastard Michael III., whom Theodora, the mother, had 
sent against them. Having thus organized their revolt, Chry- 
socheir, the successor of Korbeas, carried the arms of the 
eastern Protestants to the shores of the ^gean. Nicsea, Ni- 
comedia, and Ankyra, were captured and pillaged. The Pau- 
licians stabled their horses in the cathedral of Ephesus, and 
they vied with their auxiliaries, the Saracens, in their contempt 
and abhorrence of images and relics. At last Basilius the 
Macedonian led, in 873, all the forces of the empire against 
them. Chrysocheir was surprised and slain, and " witb him 
the glory of the Paulicians faded and withered." The empe- 
ror penetrated through the Anti-Taurus ; the impregnable 
Tephrike, deserted by its defenders, was levelled to the 
ground, and the Paulician republic destroyed ; but the spirit 
of religious independence still survived in the mountains on 
the Euphrates.'* 

XI. Thema Sebastle — ©e^aa Se/Jaorretas — west of the 
former, in the ancient Armenia Prima and Secunda. It took 
its name from Julius Caesar Augustus, or Sebastos. Its prin- 
cipal city, Sebasteia, lay on the Halys. 

XII. Thema Lycandi — @e/xa KvkomZov — tlie frontier pro- 
vince on the western slope of Mount Taurus, had been almost 
entirely depopulated and devastated during the wars with the 
Arabs, but lately restored by Leo Philosophus, the father of 
Constantine VII., who sent the Armenian Melias with colonies 

*" John Tzimisces transported the Panlician sectarians from the Ar- 
menian frontiers to Thrace, where they settled in the valleys of Mount 
liiemus. Their doctrines spread thence to Bulgaria and Italy, and they 
are supposed to have kindled the first spark of reformation among the 
Lombards and Albigenses in the twelfth century. Mosheim treats the 
Paulicians with severity ; Gibbon has done them jiistice in the o4th 
cliapter of his brilliant history. In spite of some mj'stical extravagan- 
cies, they were certainly a virtuous sect ; their scriptures were pure; 
they condemned the idolatry of the Eastern Church, and manfully de- 
nounced the errors and crimes maliciously imputed to them by the 
Greeks. 



FIFTH PERIOD.— THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE. 



73 



of shepherds and flocks to the rich pasture lands of Mount 
Taurus. The theine embraced the ancient Melitene, and part 
of Armenia Tertia. 

XIII. TiiEMA Seleuci.e — ®6/xa SeXeuKeias — southeast, was 
formed of the ancient Cilicia and Isauria, on the Gulf of Issos, 
opposite to Cyprus. A border-count — KA-etcrovpapx^? — com- 
manded here a colony of stout Bulgarians, who were settled 
on Mount Amanus, to defend the important defiles, and op- 
pose the forays of the Saracens from the Euphrates. The 
memory of these colonists is still preserved in the mod- 
ern name of the Cilician pass — BoJghar-Dagh. Leo VI. 
formed this thema, and made Seleukia, on the coast, its me- 
tropolis. 7\irsos, Aphrodisias, Dalisandros, Lauzados, 
Adana, and other cities, enjoyed a splendid climate and a 
fertile soil, but were much exposed to the piratical landings of 
the 3Iohammedans. 

267. XIV. Thema CiBYRRyEOTAnuM — ©e/xa Ki/3upjoaia)T(I)i' 
— west of the former, ran along the whole southern coast of 
Asia Minor, westward to Miletos on the j^gean. Protected 
by the snow-capped ridge of Mount Taurus on the north, it was 
the most smiling and cultivated portion of Asia Minor, with a 
great number of cities. It took its name from the small and 
poor town of Kibyrkha, as if in mockery, says Constantino. 
Mylassa, Huhkarnnssos^ Xcmthos, Tdmissos, Patara, Atta- 
leia, Perge, Side, Selgc, and many others. Rhodes, and the 
smaller islands, Kos, Eahjnvna, Nisyros, and Telos, belonged 
likewise to this thema. The Saracens had invaded Pthodes in 
651. The colossal statue of Phoebus Apollo, one of the seven 
wonders of the ancient world which adorned the entrance of 
the great port, had long ago been overthrown by an earthquake, 
but its massy trunk and heaps of fragments were still scattered 
about the mouth of the harbor, where they were gathered by 
the greedy children of the desert, and sold to a Jewish mer- 
chant from Edessa. The money-man got them shipped over to 
the continent, and the precious brass was then loaded on eigld 
hundred camels, and carried away into Mesopotamia. 

XV. Thema or Pr^fectura Cypri — ®e/xa KvVpov — the 
beautiful island of that name, which was governed by a consu- 
lar — Koi/(roA.aptos. The metropolis was Konstantia, on the 
eastern coast. KitAon, Amathus, Pnphos, Leukosia, Trimy- 
tlios, the birthplace of Saint Spyridon, and other towns, were 
still flourishing. The Saracens having invaded Cyprus in 805, 
under Haroun-ar-Raschid, were expelled again by Leo the 
Armenian in 816; but they yeai'ned after that terrestrial par- 
adise, and soon obtained possession of the island again. To 
the great regret of Constantino, " the infidel Hagareans" still 
occupied Cyprus in his day (950), but in 964, the brilliant 
Nicephorus Pliocas finally recovered that gem of the eastern 
empire. 

268. XVI. Thema Sami Insula — ©e'yixa ^di^ov — -consisted 
not only of that large island, whose city was the metropolis of 
the theme, but it extended along the Ionian coast from Jassos 
northward to the Adramyttian G-ulf, with the beautiful cities 
E2}kesos, Smyrna, Magnesia, Miletos, Tralles, Pergamon, 
Lebedos, and others. Its governor commanded the Thracian 
cavalry, which, on account of their quarters in that theme, 
were divided into the Ephesian and Adramyttian squadrons ; 
the islands of the coast, such as Patmos and Ikaros, belonged 
likewise to the Samian theme. 

XVII. Thema ^geum Pelagus — ®e/i,a A.l-^a.ov Xle'/Wyos 
— embraced all the islands of the ^gean, the Cyclades, and 
Sporades, together with the coast land of Troy, all along the 
Hellespont and Propontis, as far as the rivers Rhyndakos and 
Daskylion, north of Mount Olympus. Cities on the mainland 
were Assos, llion, Dardanos, Abydos, Lampsakos, Parion, 
Kyzikos, and the large island Prokonnesos on the Pro- 
pontis. 

10 



Until the times of the crusades, we hear little about the 
inhabitants of the beautiful islands of the iEgean — AiyatoTre- 
Xayirat — as the Greeks call them ; they suffered severely from 
the piratical expeditions of the Saracens. Earlier, they were 
fanatic image worshippers, and when Leo the Isaurian con- 
demned the idolatry of the images, and ordered the churches 
in Constantinople and all the empire to be cleansed from that 
abomination, the fire of rebellion spread from Athens through- 
out the ^gean ; the Greek islanders, arming a fleet, sailed to 
the Bosphorus under the command of Stephanos and Agelli- 
anos, with the intention to depose the iconoclastic emperor and 
raise the pious prophet Kosmas to the throne. But all their 
blustering terminated with their total defeat before the city ; 
their fleet was burnt with the Greek fire ; their fanatic leaders 
were captured, and suffered capital punishment. 

XVIII. Eparchia Cret^ — 'E-TTapxta Kp-^rijs. This fer- 
tile and important isle is not mentioned by Constantino, because 
it was still in possession of the Saracens. During the period 
of their early enthusiasm, some daring bands of Spanish Arabs 
landed in open barks on the island, and after the most heroical 
exploits they succeeded, in 823, in subduing the Christian popu- 
lation, and the large island, in sight of the whole Greek em- 
pire. Crete became entirely Mohammedan, and it was not 
until the downfall of the creed and the virtue of the Arabs, 
that Nicephorus Phocas, in a brilliant campaign, a. d. 961, 
captured Candia and the other cities, subdued the island, and 
forced the Mohammedan population to accept baptism. 



B. — Themes of the Byzantine Empire in Europe. 

269. I. Thema Thracium — ®e/xa ©paKwov — embraced the 
greater portion of ancient Thrace, and reached northward to 
Mount Hsemus, at that time the frontier-line of the weakened 
empire. The country beyond the range toward the Danube 
was inhabited by Mavro-Bulgari, or Black Bulgarians, who 
were reduced to subjection in 971, by the arms of John 
Tzimisces. Westward, the theme did not extend beyond 
Mount Despotos and the river Strymon. Thrace was a fertile 
and beautiful region, but it had been sadly devastated during 
the Bulgarian wars, and was already inhabited by a mixed 
Sclavo-Grecian population. It was subdivided into five Epar- 
CHiiE : I. Eur,ope, on the Black Sea, the Bosphorus, and Pro- 
pontis, with the cities ArkadiopoMs, Herakleia, and Kallipolis, 
on the Thracian Chersonese. Constantinople, the Imperial 
capital, had its own government. II. Rhodope, west of 
Europe, in the loining district of Mount Pangkaion ; cities 
were Philippoi, Trajanopolis, Ainos, Serrai, Parthikojwlis, 
and others. III. HjEmimontis, on the north, at the base of 
the mountains, with Adrianopolis and Anchialos. IV. Thra- 
kia, northwest, in the interior, with Pliilippiopolis, Beroe, and 
says Constantino, the islands of Jliusos, Samotlirake, and Im- 
bros. V. Mysia, by which the imperial geographer under- 
stands the lately conquered Bulgaria— \he ancient Moesia, 
north of Mount Ilasmus, which had been transformed into the 
fifth eparchy of Thrace, with^ the cities Toviis and Constan- 
tiana on the Pontus ; Dionysopolis, Kapidaba, Istros, and 
others, in the valley of the Danube. The frontier districts 
were governed by strategoi, and the others by consular s. 

II. Thema Macedonle. — ®e/xa MaKeSoi'tas — was inhabited 
by a great number of diff'erent Sclavonian tribes formerly un- 
der the sceptre of the Bulgarian kings : but after their defeat 
in 97 1 rendering homage to the Byzantine emperor. The more 
numerous tribes were the Burdariotce in the upper regions of 
Mount Scardus, BelegezitcB, and Sagudata, in the plains of 
Macedonia, which already began to be called Blachia. More 
east, on the Strymon, sat another Sclavonic tribe, the Driigu- 



74 



FIFTH PERIOD.— THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE. 



hita ; Byzantine officials were placed in the districts, but their 
power was nought ; yet the vain and tasteless Emperor gives 
a pompous description of ancient Macedonia with her Philip 
and Alexander, hut does not say a single syllable about the 
condition of that unhappy country during his own reign. The 
Thema was divided into three eparchise : 

I. Consular Makedonia on the east, with Edessa, Pclla, 
Kclle, A2?ollonia, Itluijyolis , and, Amfhipolis. II. Hegemonic 
Makedonia, commanded by a military officer — yyefxwv — with 
the cities Stoloi, Pelagonia, Harmonia, and Zapara. III. 
Thessalia, with the metropolis Neai Patrai, (Hypata), in the 
valley of the Sperchios, and the cities Larissa on the Peneus, 
Trike^ Pharsalos and Kaisareia. Demetrias, on the Pa- 
gasetic Gulf, was a populous and flourishing commercial 
town in a. d. 896, when it was surprised, besieged, and 
captured by a Saracenic army, that slaughtered its inhab- 
itants, and carried off its wealth, leaving nothing behind but 
smoking ruins and mouldering corpses. Lamia, on Mount 
Othrys, opposite to Thermopyte ; Gompld, and the islands 
SJciathos, Peparethos, and Skepila {Skopc/os). 

III. Thema Strymonis — ©e/xa Sxpi'/x-oi/os — in the upper 
valley of that river, beneath the highest peaks of Mount Scar- 
dus (35), was entirely occupied by Sclavonian hordes, and 
governed by a border count, or Klisuriarcli . 

IV. Thema Thessalonice — ©e'/xa ®€crcraXovLKj] — was cir- 
cumscribed to the Chalkidian Chersonese. Its metropolis was 
THESSALONncE (Saloniki), on the Thermaic Gulf, the richest 
and most commercial city of the empire during the ninth cen- 
tury ; but in 904 it was attacked by a numerous army of 
Arabs who carried the city by storm, and after having plunder- 
ed it of its wealth, brought thousands of its unhappy citizens 
away for the slave markets of the East. Other towns in the 
peninsula were the celebrated Olynthos, Kassa7idreia, and 
Stageira. The magnificent promontory Hagion Oros (Athos), 
called the Sacred Mount,, on account of the many monasteries 
splendidly situated on the slopes of the mountain. There thou- 
sands of monks and hermits were occupied in copying Greek 
manuscripts, and painting those Byzantine images that caused 
the violent religious commotions during the eighth century. 

V. Thema Hellas — ©i/xa "EXAas — embraced the ancient 
provinces, Attica, Bceotia, Phocis, and Locris, as far as the de- 
file of the Thermopylaj, at the base of Mount Oeta ; farther 
.ZEtolia and Acarnania, north to the Ambracian Gulf, and the 
islands Euboea and j35gina. Constantine gives Hellas seventy- 
nine cities, forty of which, however, seem to have belonged to 
the Peloponnesian theme. The only cities he mentions are, 
Skarphia, Elcnsis, Daidion, Chaironcia, Naupaktos, Delphi, 
AmpJdssa, and ChaUcis, on Euboea. • 

VI. Thema Peloponnesus — -®£/xa IXsXottoi'ftjo-os — with the 
metropolis Korinthos ; among its forty cities were Sikyon, 
Argos, and Lakedaimonia (Sparta). The greater part of the 
interior of the peninsula was inhabited by Sclavonians, who, in 
860, during the reign of Michael III., had been brought back 
to the allegiance of the Emperor (196). The only larger district 
that remained in the possession of the Greeks was the moun- 
tainous region of Mount Taygetos — the present Mani or 
Maina. In that retired corner of Lakonia, a small remnant of 
the Greek race survived, living in a state of isolation, poverty, 
and barbarism. So completely had they been separated from 
all connection with the rest of the nation, and secluded from 
the influence of the Greek Church, that the rural population 
around the fortress of Maina, on the western promontory of 
Tainaron, had remained pagans until the reign of Basilius I., 
the Macedonian, a. d. 861-886, when the Greek monks attend- 
ed to their conversion. " These mountaineers arc not Sclavo- 
nians," says Constantine, " but descendants of the ancient 
Hellenes, who had sought refuge on the promontory, where they 



live in a barren region, difficult of access, without water, and 
producing nothing but olive trees.'"^'' In the time of the im- 
perial historian, these Maniates paid to the royal treasury an 
annual tribute of four hundred gold Byzants. The Greeks 
likewise occupied the cities on the coast. The general who com- 
manded the theme resided in Korinth ; Patrce was a thriving 
city, which had gallantly beaten back an attack made in 807 
by the forces of the Sclavonian hordes in the interior, united 
with a Sarcenic fleet, cutting off all communication between the 
peninsula and continental Greece. The beautiful plains of 
Elis and Messenia, the table-lands of Arkadia, with the large 
Sclavonic settlements at Nikli and Veligosii, and the deep val- 
ley of Lakonia, remained for centuries in the possession of 
Sclavini, Melingl, Ezeritse, and other tribes. "We shall find 
them there again two centuries later at the invasion of the 
Frank crusaders in 1205. And yet the Greek race has sur- 
vived all these disasters ; it has impressed its own powerful 
nationality on the barbarians who, numerous as they were, 
yielded to the higher genius of the Hellenes ; and while, during 
the Middle Ages, the complete fusion of the Roman and Ger- 
manic races was effected in western Europe, the small Greek na- 
tion withstood the shock of the millions of Sclavonians who 
oppressed them, and preserved their religion, language, and 
nationality. But they naturally enough adopted some Sclavo- 
nic expressions, and terms in their language, and some ot 
their customs and peculiarities. We therefore .find a re- 
markable resemblance in the dress, habits, and even super- 
stitions among the Greco-Slavic tribes of modern Turkey. Thj 
Wallachian and Servian are the herdsmen of the hill; the Bulga- 
rian, the ploughman of the plain ; the Albanian, the klepht and 
warrior of the mountain ; and the Greek, the merchant, me- 
chanic, and mariner of the coast and the island. The mild and 
spirited Wlach, the robust and laborious Bulgarian, the idle and 
fanciful Servian, the crafty and haughty Arnaut, the brilliant, 
ingenious, and bustling Greek — all mix together in their daily 
intercourse like countrymen and brethren ; as co-religionists, 
they all alike hate and despise the stupid Turk. The same 
hope of independence and resurrection pervades them all, and 
if they did not succeed in uniting their noble exertions for 
liberty, it was the Russian giant who opposed a union so de 
trimental to his own ambitious views in the Levant. 

270. VII. Thema Cephalleni/e — ©e/xa 'Kt^akX-qvia^ — em- 
braced the Ionian islands, Kephallenia, Kerkyra (Corfu), Za- 
kyiitlios (Zante), Leukas (Santa Manra), P/iaka ,KytJiera (Ce- 
rigo), and others smaller. 

VIII. Thema NicoroLis^®e/^a NikoVoAis — consisted of 
the ancient Epirus from the Ambracian Gulf northward to 
ApoUonia on the river Aous (Laos) ; it had twelve cities, of 
which NiKOPOLis was the metropolis, and it was governed by 
a general. 

IX. Thema Dyr.RAcmuM — ©e/xa Avppaxiov — was called 
New Eptirvs, and consisted nominally of the ancient Daeia, 
Dardania, and part of lUyria, with the metropolis Dyrrachium, 
the ancient Epidamnus. But only the southern part of the 
province belonged to the Byzantine Empire. The Servians 

"'' 'laTiOV OTl oi TOV KcifTTpOV Wa''wT]S OlKrjTOpiS OVK eiVlJ' awb TIJS 7eV60S TO)// 

irpoppfiSeVTWu '^KKafiwv, aX\' ck tsjc TraA.aioTepcuj' 'Pa/xataii' ul KoX fie^pi Toii 
vvy irapa twv evTOTriwi/ RWTtve? irpoffayopevuvTai Starh eV rois TTpoTra\aio7s 
XP' vois eiSw\o\a.Tpas flpai Kal TrpoffKuvriTai tuv (lSw\aiv Kara rovs vaXai- 
ohs"E\Xrivas. Constant. Porphyr. de administ. imper. caj). L. Bonnte, 1840, 
page 224. This interesting passage gives us full evidence that the 
present ManiaUe (Mainotts), are the descendants of the ancient Lakonians, 
and not. Sclavonians, as has been stated by Chateaubrinnd and other su- 
perficial writers. See, moreover, Zinkeisen, vol. II. p.nges '?C9-'771. 
Constnntine confounds, however, the eastern promontorj' Malea with 
the western Tainaron, on which the castle of Maina is situated ; but 
this makes no difference as to the main historical fact, and the infer- 
ences draw 1 from it. 




1^ 



FIFTH PERIOD.— BENEVENTO— ITALO-BYZANTINE REPUBLICS. 



7b 



and Croats occupied the whole country north of the Drmus, and 
the Bulgai'ians were settled hi the interior. 

X. Ti-iEMA SiciLLE — @e/xa StKeXtas — had been conquered 
by the Aglabid warriors from Africa during the years 826-88 
(259), and was still in the possession of the Arab emirs. 

XI. Them A Longobardi/e — ©e/^a AoyyojSapSias — consisted 
of the last remnants of the Greek possessions in lower Italy. 
This theme embraced nominally four distinct parts, which 
were separated by the almost independent Lombard duchy of 
Beneventum, and the Arabic settlements on the Gulf of Ta- 
rentum. I. Longobardia, on the southeastern coast, extended 
from the river Aufidus (Ofanto), to the promontory of Otranto, 
and comprised the two provinces of Capitanata — KaTreraFaTov 
— and Basilicata — l-irap)(ia BautXtK?/ — both east of Mount 
Apenniue. Barium (Bari), a strongly fortified city on the 
coast, was the metropolis of the theme, and the residence of 
the Byzantine governor — KaTETravo). Brunclusium (Brundisi), 
Hydruntum (Otranto), Kallipolis (Gallipoli), and Tarentum 
(Taranto), were important cities, with excellent ports, in con- 
stant communication with Constantinople. Basantellum (Ba- 
santello), west of Tarentum, on the small river Basentius, 
where the emperor, Otho II., in 982, suffered a signal defeat 
from the united Greeks and Arabs. The imperial troops 
rushed with the greatest impetuosity upon the Greeks, who 
fell back in good order, and allured the headlong German 
knights into an ambuscade of the Arabs, hitherto concealed 
behind the mountains. The heavy-armed Germans were 
speedily surrounded on every side by innumerable hordes of 
those swift horsemen. They were scattered and cut to pieces ; 
the emperor galloped to the shore, and plunging into the sea, 
mounted as he was on his trusty steed, swam towards a Greek 
vessel. The greedy crew supposing the imperial fugitive to 
be a distinguished knight, sailed to the city of Rossmio, the 
German head-quarters, in order to receive the proffered ran- 
som. But the youthful German hero, springing boldly from 
the ship, swam ashore, to the amazement of the Greeks, and 
after safely reaching land, he entered the city, and was there 
joyfully received by his queen and retinue, 13th July, 982. 

II. Calabria, on the southwestern peninsula, opposite to Si- 
cily, with the cities Roscianum (Rossano), Squill atium {^c[m\- 
lace), on the gulf of that name (130). Regiitm (Reggio), 
and Bisinianum, in the interior. The Saracens had taken 
Briindusium and Bari, and driven the Greeks into Mount 
Apennine ; but by a great eifort under the Emperor, Basilius I., 
and with the co-operation of Louis II. and his Franks, the inva- 
ders were defeated and expelled in 868, and the Greek catapans 
ruled the province until Robert Guiscard and his Normans, after 
the brilliant conquest of all lower Italy in the year 1071, be- 
sieged and took Bari, the last possession of the Greeks in Italy. 

III. DucATUs Neapolis — The duchy of Naples, with the 
flourishing cities, Neapolis (Naples), the metropolis, Surrentum 
Sorrento), Nuceria (Nocera), and A'tnalphis (Amalfi, Malfa). 
Naples, with its elective duke, who often was a bishop, its 
consuls, nobility, and popular assembly, had already become 
an independent republic, and stood only in distant relations to 
the Byzantine empire. Amalfi, consisting of the city of 
Amalfi, and quite a number of populous boroughs and castles, 
in strong and beautiful positions on the Gulf of Salerno, was 
then one of the most wealthy and enterprising maritime re- 
publics of Italy. The Amalfians, under their native dukes, 
made commercial treaties with the Saracens, who respected 
their flag : they occupied all the smaller islands in the Gulf of 
Naples, their merchant vessels visited the distant coasts of the 
East, whence they brought the Indian products to the ports 
of France and Spain. They were the rivals of the Venetians, 
and the pride of Italy, until their disastrous war with Pisa, 
and the capture and destruction of their city in the year 1 137. 



IV. Ducatus CajeT/E, the duchy of Gaeta, on its strong- 
ly fortified promontory, north of Naples, recognized the sove- 
reignty of the Byzantine emperor, but enjoyed a republican 
government, like the neighboring cities of Naples and 
Amalfi. 

XII. Thema Ci-iersonis — ©e'/xa XepcraJvos — the twenty- 
ninth, and the last of the themes, composed the western part of 
the Taurian Chersonese (Crimea), and the opposite coast of the 
mainland, to the mouth of the Dnieper. The only cities in 
possession of the Greeks were Cherson and Bosporus^ im- 
portant on account of the commerce on the Don, Volga, 
and the Caspian. Some few wrecks of the great Chaza- 
ric nation were still settled in the eastern part of Crimea; 
but the northern shores of the Black Sea, westward to the 
Danube, formed then the Chanate of the horrible Petcheneges, 
who gave so great an anxiety to the Greek emperors, dur- 
ing the later period of the tenth century. 

271. Ducatus Beneventi — The Lombard duchy of Bene- 
vento, embracing the interior provinces of Lower Italy — had 
been divided into the principalities of Bencvento and Salerno^ 
and the county of Capua, under different dynasties of Lom- 
bard dukes, almost incessantly fighting against one another, 
but always recognizing the sovereignty either of the German 
emperor, when he was approaching at the head of his army, or 
of the Byzantine empire, when her catapan had received re- 
inforcements from the East, and defeated the Saracens. 
These fluctuating politics continued until Duke Pandulph, Iron- 
Head, in 974, succeeded in uniting the entire duchy, and by 
his alliance with the Greeks, was enabled to defend himself 
against the invasions of the Sicilian emirs. 

272. Ducatus Venetle — the duchy of Venice, together 
with the peninsula of Istria, and all the islands on the Dalma- 
tian coast, belonged likewise nominally to the Eastern Em- 
pire ; but the homage rendered by the doges, or dukes, con- 
sisted more'" in some public ceremony than in any subjection 
to the imperial governor of the Italian provinces. Venice had 
maintained her independence under the administration of her 
tribunes, named by an assembly of the people in each of the 
separate isles. Yet powerful families began to influence the 
elections ; jealousies arose in the small communities of the 
islands ; the tribunes themselves disagreed. To put an end 
to these factions, the citizens of every island met in a single 
assembly at Bferaclea, in 697, and elected a chief of maritime 
Venice, whom they, in imitation of the Greeks called Dux — 
doge — or duke, and who was considered as the lieutenant of 
the emperor of Constantinople. During the Lombardic wars 
in Italy, thousands of refugees found an asylum in the islands 
of the young republic. She began to extend her commerce 
and political importance. Pepin, king of Italy (187), attacked 
her with a large army in 809 ; and the Emperor Constantine 
gives a pleasant account of the awkward position of Pepin, 
who attempted in vain to invade the isles with his cavalry, by 
throwing beams across the narrow inlet of Madamaucuvi 
(Malamocco). Attacked on all sides by the Venetians from 
their ships, the son of Charlemagne was obliged to retire dis- 
gracefully, to the mainland, after a heavy loss."' The Vene- 
tians then made choice of the largest island, the Riva Alta 
— Rialto — in the centre of the Lagoons, where they had se- 

'■"' Genoa and Pisa preserved their relations with Constantinople, 
after they had been occupied by tlie Lombards. They sent every year 
a 'pallium, or silken banner to the emperors, in Constantinople, which 
was considered as a sort of tribute. Venice, Gaeta, Naples and Amalfi, 
advanced more openly to independence. 

^'^ Constantini Porphyr. de Administrando Imp. cap. xxviii., p. 12-t. 



76 



FIFTH PERIOD.— GREEK EMPIRE— CALIPHATE OF BAGDAD. 



cured their families and wealth, and there they built the city 
of Venice, the capital of their republic. Some years later, 
they transported thither from Alexandria, in Egypt, the body 
of Saint Mark, the Evangelist, whom they chose patron of 
their state. His winged lion figured in their arms ; and under 
his victorious banner they afterwards raised their great colo- 
nial empire of the East. Thus strengthened by devotion and 
union, the bold Venetians, in 997, set sail for the Dalmatian 
islands, where they were received with open arms by the 
Christian population. With their aid, they defeated the bar- 
barous Croatian hordes who dared to descend on the coast, 
and the still more troublesome pirates of Narenta (260). 
Istria, and all the Dalmatian islands hoisted the banner of 
Saint Mark; they received their governors and judges from 
Venice, whose doge from that year — 997 — -took the title of 
Dux Veneti^e et DaLMATI/E. 

273. Such was the political and military organization of ilie 
Byzantine Empire, from the sixth to the thirteenth century, 
when the storms of the crusades swept away the empire and its 
institutions. Many of its provinces were then entirely lost ; 
others were, together with the capital, reconquered by the Pa- 
Iseologi (1261), but the old divisions could not be renewed in 
a state which thenceforth was circumscribed almost to the 
walls and environs of Constantinople. With all the defi- 
ciencies of its government, Byzantium was still the best or- 
ganized state of mediaeval Europe. No state ever possessed 
such a long succession of able rulers, and of brave and skilful 
generals, competent to direct all branches of the administra- 
tion, and to beat back the attacks of foreign invaders, as the 
Eastern Empire. The talents of the emperors, as well as the 
systematic order of the administration, held together their ex- 
tensive dominions long after the tendencies of mediaeval socie- 
ty had urged the diiferent nationalities to separate. In Con- 
stantinople it was a constant object of the imperial attention to 
prevent too great an accumulation of power in the hands of 
any single official ; and yet it was absolutely necessary to in- 
trust the generals and provincial govei'nors with extensive au- 
thority, for they were called upon incessantly to resist the 
barbarian invaders, and to quell internal insurrections. Never 
did sovereigns perform their complicated duties with such pro- 
found ability and perseverance as the Byzantine monarchs. 
No mayors of the palace ever circumscribed their power ; no 
pope ever made them bow down in the dust ; nor were they re- 
duced to become the puppets of their mercenaries, like the caliphs 
of Bagdad.^' A vivid and interesting picture of J3yzantine po- 
litics and masterly statesmanship, we shall see exhibited by 
the emperors of the Comnenian dynasty during the following 
period of the crusades. 

The Greek empire afii"orded during this period an asylum 
to the remains of literature and culture, preserved from the 
ages of antiquity, which were destined to afi'ord abundant 
sources of investigation and research for the learned in after 
times. Caesar Bardas, the brother of Theodora, kept the 
state in excellent order during the reign of his unworthy ne- 
phew, Michael III. (856-866), and raised Photius, a prelate 
of eminent talents and profound learning, to the patriarchate 
of Constantinople. Basilius I. began the revisal of the Jus- 
tinian Code, which his son Leo VI. Philosophus, completed in 
the Basilica — rj i^r]KovTdl3i/3Xo<; twv BacnXiKiov. Leo wrote an 
important work on Byzantine military science — to. raKTCKa — 
and his son, Constantino VII. Porphyrogenitus, entirely de- 
voted to the works of classical antiquity, and the study of the 
constitution and political relations of the empire, has left us 

="' See for interesting details, chap. liii. in Gibbon : compare Zink- 
eisen and Finlay in their works on mediaeval Greece, previously men- 
tioned. 



those valuable writings, from which we have gathered these 
pages on the Byzantine G eography of the tenth cent ury. 



THE MOHAMMEDAN WORLD IN ASIA AND 
AFRICA: 

ITS POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY DURING THE TENTH CEN- 
TURY, UNTIL THE FOUNDATION OF THE EMPIRE OF 
THE SELDJUKIAN TURKS. A. D. 809-1028. 

A. — The Caliphate of the Abbasids in Bagdad. 
A. D. 809-1258. 

274. Dismemberment of the Arabian Empire. — The 
vast extent of countries which the first caliphs had united by 
the Koran and the scimitar of Mohammed, received no regular 
interior organization. The victorious Saracens permitted the 
vanquished nations to remain mostly in the same condition as 
they found them at the time of the conquest. They urged 
them to accept Islamism, but treated them generally with reli- 
gious tolerance. 

The caliphs considered themselves as the lord possessors 
of the soil. Extensive tracts of land were reserved for their 
domains ; others were distributed among the Moslem con- 
querors, who paid only the tenth part of the produce — aschr — 
while the native population were taxed with the fifth, and even the 
third part of theirs for the lands they were suffered to retain. 
The Christian and Jewish inhabitants paid besides an onerous 
income tax — ta ''adil — and the degrading poll-tax — charatch. 
The revenues were in part leased out to the highest bid- 
der ; and the poor subjects became thus exposed to the ava- 
rice, and the arbitrary extortions of the tax-gatherers. Abd- 
el-Melek established the mint in the city of Wasit., on the 
Tigris, near Kufali (207), where gold-dinars — and silver- 
dirrhems — were coined (222), under the direction of the 
Jews, who were there quite in their own element. The Moslemin 
were exempted from all personal exactions, except military 
service. At their first appearance on the outskirts of the de- 
sert, the Arabs had astonished the world as much by the 
squalid aspect of their Bedouin hordes, as by the rapidity of 
their movements. Their cavalry was excellent ; their foot, 
too, was numerous, and rode on camels during the march. 
The incredible activity of such an army, no less than their re- 
ligious fanaticism, opened them the path to continual victory 
and conquest. A century later, we find the Saracens admira- 
bly armed with those flexible coats of mail, and peaked hel- 
mets, which the crusaders afterwards considered as superior 
to their own armature of Italian or French workmanship. The 
Saracenic scimitars, bucklers, and lances, were as well tempered 
as they were beautiful ; and nowhere in the world could sword 
blades be brought to such a perfection of temper as among the 
Saracens, in Toledo, Damascus, or Persia. But after the 
conquest, the Arabs neglected their tactics Their principal 
strength consisted only in cavalry and archers ; their battle 
array was formed of large squares, in double lines, of which the 
archers occupied the first, and the horse the second ; the nu- 
merous herds of cattle which they carried along with them, ren- 
dered their stay at one place impossible, and they were there- 
fore in continual movement. 

The splendor of the rapid conquest could not destroy the 
seeds of decay which the faith, ideas, and manners of the 
Arabs had sown in the lands under their dominion. The reli- 
gious enthusiasm which had been so powerful an instrument of 
conquest, became a source of disorder when the victory was 
won. The same fanaticism and ambition which had built up 
the empire, were soon to destroy it again. Even under the 



FIFTH PEKIOD.— MOHAMMEDAN DYNASTIES IN ASIA. 



77 



reign of Aaron the Just — Haroun-ar-Raschid—ihQ happiest 
in the annals of the caliphate, rebellions had commenced in the 
West (214, 215), which showed the real weakness of so ex- 
tensive a dominion, intrusted to the fidelity and devotion of 
military governors. Haroun was the last Emir al Mumenim, 
who performed in person the pilgrimage to the sacred cities, 
where Islamism had taken its rise. His successors, for the most 
part shut up and inaccessible in their palaces, were living sur- 
rounded by women and literary men, indifferent to the politi- 
cal affairs of their empire, which fell under the power of their 
viziers and court-favorites. Haroun, like Charlemagne, his 
contemporary, divided his realm between his sons in such a man- 
ner, that the oldest, Mohammed II. al-Aiuiu, should possess the 
dignity of Caliph over the whole empire; while his younger bro- 
ther, Al-Mamun, obtained the government over the provinces 
of the east, Iran, Kerman, KJtorasan, Tabaristan, and the 
rest, as far as the frontiers of India — and his youngest brother, 
Mohammed III. Motassem was endowed with the provinces in 
the north, Armenia, Georgia, and Caucasus, both with extensive 
powers; yet as icnder-kings, who were to obey the orders 
of the Caliph. Civil wars between the brothers immediately 
began to shake the empire ; and a few years later, with Mo- 
hammed III. Motassem, the eighth caliph of the Ab- 
basid family, the glory of that dynasty, and of the Arabic na- 
tion, expired for ever. The Saracens having spread through- 
out the splendid countries they had conquered, began to turn 
their attention to the quiet occupations of agriculture, com- 
merce, and literature. " The courage of the South," says 
Gibbon, " is the artificial fruit of discipline and prejudice ; 
the active power of enthusiasm had decayed, and the merce- 
nary forces of the caliphs were recruited in those climates of 
the north, of which valor is the hardy and spontaneous pro- 
duction." Motassem formed an army of fifty thousand Turks, 
from the warlike race of Tartars who lived beyond the Oxus 
and laxartes. AVith their powerful aid, he succeeded in 
quelling the rebellions which had sprung up around him, yet 
the weakness of a throu.e founded on opinion, and supported by 
foreign arms, was soon discovered by the proud Emirs who 
commanded the body-guard. The Turks stood in arms around 
the throne of their benefactor, and their chiefs usurped the 
dominion of the palace and the provinces. Their licentious 
conduct provoked the public indignation, and the hostilities 
between the Arab population and the Turkish guards in- 
duced the Caliph to retire from Bagdad, and establish his 
own residence, and the camp of his barbaric favorites, at 
Asker-el-Serramenra (207), on the Tigris, about twelve 
miles above the City of Peace. Yet new revolutions broke 
out among the walls of the east ; new heresies sprung up in 
the south, while Bagdad herself, became the scene of the most 
terrible convulsions. 

Five caliphs perished by assassination in the course of twenty- 
five years (846-870), and at the end of the ninth century a 
general insurrection of the Arabs of the desert — the Kara- 
mathians — gave the last blow to the authority of the Abbasid 
caliphs. Surrounded by rebellious lieutenants, fanatic here- 
tics, and arrogant mercenaries, the unhappy Ahmed IV. 
Rhadi, in 940, placed his tottering throne under the protection 
of a more energetic authority, and conferred upon the valiant 
Mohammed Abu-Bekr-Ebn-Raik the dignity of an Emir-al- 
Omrah or Emir of the Emirs. This important office embraced 
all the military and executive power as the mayordom of the 
palace among the Franks (118). The chief emir, whose name 
was inserted in the public prayers, obscured entirely the repu- 
tation of the caliphs. He was thus stripped of all his political 
influence, and nothing was left him but an empty religious 
supremacy as ^.pensioned high-priest of the mosque. Thus 
from the year 940 the caliphs disappear as political chiefs; and 



the different leaders of influential families now begin the contest 
about the dignity of the emirate (154). Mighty dynasties had 
in the mean time arisen throughout the broad lands of the Ab- 
basid empire, whose frontiers soon became circumscribed within 
the walls of the city of Bagdad. The powerful chief of the 
Buids, Emed ed-Daula (pillar of the empire), secured the dig- 
nity in his family; but during the quarrel of the mock caliph, 
Abdallah V. Kaim-Beamrillah (watching the will of God), with 
his great emir, Malek-al-Rahim (compassionate prince), in 1035, 
the former called to his assistance the Seldjukian chief, Togr;'.l 
Bei, who, at the head of his Turkomans, destroyed the dynasty 
of the Buids, and, as Turkish sultan, soon swept away all the 
countries west of the Euphrates. A new and terrible power 
thus arose in the East, that of the Seldjukian Turks ; yet the 
poor Abbasid caliphs of Bagdad breathed more freely ; the 
conquering sultans cared little about the domestic administra- 
tion, the pomp and prayers in Bagdad ; and the spiritual com- 
manders of the faithful were now relieved from the igno- 
minious vexations to which they had been exposed by the pre- 
sence of their own arrogant servants, the Buids. Thus the 
Abbasids, succeeding from father to son, lingered on obscurely 
in seraglio and mosque, during the eventful period of the 
crusades on the shores of Syria, until the Mongolic invasion of 
Hulagu in 1258, buried the last miserable caliph, Abdallah 
Mostassem Billah (guiltless through God), under the smoking 
ruins of his capital. 

B. MoHAJIMEDAN DYNASTIES IN CeNTRAL AsIA. 

275. I. The Taherites— 813-872. Smaller dynasties 
arose early in the fertile Mawaral-Nahr, beyond the Oxus 
(212), Sedjestan, so rich by her mines of gold ore, and in 
Khorasan. The founders of these dynasties pretended to be de- 
scendants of the Sassanid kings of old, and they obtained a great 
influence on the inhabitants who continued to speak some dia- 
lect of the Persian language, and still secretly adhered to the 
fire-worship of the Magi. Thus Taher, a brave general of Al- 
Mamuu, the second son of Haroun-ar-Raschid, who had defeat- 
ed the older brother, the caliph, Mohammed-al-Amin, received 
as a reward for his services, the hereditary government of 
Khorasan. There he made himself independent of Bagdad, 
and his sons ruled in NiscliabuJi.r till the year 872. 

II. The SoFFARiDS— 908. Yacub-Ben-Leith, the son of 
a coppersmith — soffdrs^^ — a notorious robber captain, increas- 
ed his victorious bands, and occupying Balkh in Tokharestan, 
and Cabul in Zabulistan (Afghanistan), captured the last 
prince of the Taherite dynasty, Mohammed, in 872, and 
marched directly against Bagdad at the head of a large army. 
Death surprised him on the road, and his brother Amru suc- 
ceeded to the government, but was overthrown in 900 by the 
Sanianids. His nephew, Taher, who was elected chief by the 
leaders of the nation, perished in 908, and with him the family 
of the Soffarid.f. The Arabian language and literature ex- 
tended rapidly throughout the East. At Nischabuhr, there 
were flourishing schools and colleges, where celebrated editions 
of the Koran were published. 

III. The Samanius — 1004. Samans was a wealthy chief 
of Khorasan. His son Ismael, the governor of Mawr-al-Nahr, 
made himself independent ; and after his victory over the Sof 
farids, he obtained the title of Padisha. The dynasty resided 
in Bokhara ; they soon lost their energy and virtue among the 
delights of the harem ; they left the direction of the state 
affairs in the hands of their Emir-al-Omrah; and the tenth 

*' The descendants of Yaeub were therefore called Soffnrids. 



78 



FIFTH PERIOD.— MOHAMMEDAN DYNASTIES IN ASIA. 



prince, Montasscr. 
advancino; Turks. 



perished in 1004 under the sabres of the 



IV. The Ghasnavids— 1184.— A young Turk, Sebec-The- 
gin, in Ghasna in Zabulistan, was raised to the throne in 977, 
and his son, Mohammed Yemin-ed-Daula (the support of the 
realm), penetrated into Huidostan, took Kunodsche, on the 
Djumna, and amassed an immense booty from the ancient and 
wealthy Indian temples. Great exertions were made to con- 
vert the Hindoos to the Mohammedan faith, and the whole 
splendid and highly civilized country, as far as the Ganges, re- 
mained under the sway of the flourishing dynasty of the 
Ghasnavids. But the Brahmins were watching the events in 
Ghasna; and when, in 1152, the Mohammedan princes were 
defeated in their homes by the Seldjuk Turks, the fanatical 
priests of Brahma called the Hindoos to arms, and drove the 
Arabs o9t of the country. Surrounded by enemies on all sides, 
the last Ghasuavid sultan, Bahram, fell, and was succeeded by 
the powerful and popular family of the Ghorids. The princes 
of the Ghasnavid dynasty were friends of art and literature, 
and the celebrated Persian poet, Ferdusi, the author of the 
admired epic poem, " The Kings" — Sliahnmne — was an hon- 
ored guest at the court. 

V. The Ghorids — 1212. — In the G/ior, that is, the^;/ai« 
or southwestern lowlands of Balkh, some vassals of the Ghas- 
navids had become popular as supposed descendants of the 
Sassanid kings of Persia. Bahram, the Ghasnavid, resolved 
their destruction. But Hussein defeated him in a pitched battle, 
took and destroyed Ghasna, and raised a new empire on the 
ruins of the Ghasnavids. Seif-ed-Din crossed the Indus and 
captured Delhi. He conquered Khorasan, and ruled by the 
Koran and the sabre. The empire of the Ghorids consisted 
of Ghasna (Afghanistan), Multan (Lahore), on the Indus, 
and Delhi (Hindostan Proper), on the Ganges ; but civil wars 
soon breaking out among his successors, the race of the Gho- 
rids expired with Mohammed III. ;°^ the Ghorid governors in 
India made themselves independent, and the Khowaresmian 
swarms invaded and occupied their Avestern possessions. 

276. VI. The Khowakesmids — 1231. — The soutlnvestern 
j)ortion of the ancient Turkigtan or the vast region between the 
Caspian Sea, the Oxus, and the lake Aral, was called Khoiv- 
aresm or Chorasmia (212). This country is in some places of 
an exuberant fertility, but encircled with deserts on all sides, 
and of difficult access. The eastern shores of the Caspian Sea 
present nothing but long gloomy chains of arid downs and 
rocks : the plains at the base of the mountains, and the valleys 
through which the Ossa and other rivers flow toward the sea, 
seem condemned to aridity and solitude. The sea of Aral (sea 
of eagles) or lake of Khowaresm on the east, contains, like the 
Caspian, sturgeons and seals (193), though its waters have 
some saline impregnation. The shores of the lake are marshy, 
and an elevated ridge of dreary and rocky hills separates it 
from the Caspian. And yet was Khowaresm one of the most 
important regions of central Asia on account of its position be- 
tween the Oxus and those large inland seas. The great route 
of Indian and Persian commerce passed on the Oxus through 
Khowaresm to the Caspian, and thence by the Volga to Nov- 
gorod and the Baltic, and by the Don to Crimea, Constanti- 
nople, and the Mediterranean. Flourishing emporiums rose 

°^ Moliaramed fell beneath the daggers of the banditti of Lahore, the 
Gkkcrs, in 1212. The fanaticism of the Brahmins, who formed the 
priesthood and nobility of the Hindoos, frustrated all the attempts of 
the Mohammedan chiefs of the different dynasties to make Islamism the 
rnling religion iu India; nor did the Saracens ever succeed in intermix- 
ing with the native races ; the ancient divisions of castes prohibited the 
amalgamation. The Afghans became later the ruling nation in India. 



early in the dreary desert. Senfaya, Talteria, KIwivaresm, 
KijJt.shalxj on the Oxus. Kurkendsii — Korkatch — (Altur- 
gens), on the small lakes southwest of Aral, became the capi- 
tal and great emporium for the transport across the desert to 
the Caspian. Among the native tribes of Turkomans were the 
Seldjuk Turks, whose emirs early obtained a supremacy over 
the other hordes ; yet, during their conquests in western Asia, 
Kothb-edDin, the great Shah of Khowaresm, founded the 
dynasty of the celebrated Khotvarcsmids in 1096, and extend- 
ed his conquests toward Bucliara, Khorasan, Cabul, nay, even 
into the heart of Persia and Irak themselves. The Ghorids 
on the east mustered their Indian forces to avert the rising 
storm, but they were swept away, and the Khowaresm em- 
pire remained the most brilliant in central Asia by its com- 
merce, wealth, and military power, until the irruption of 
Genghis-Khan and his hundred thousand of Mongols in a. d. 
1219. After a most tremendous war, and the destruction of 
millions of men, the Khowaresmian power was annihilated by 
that savage conqueror. The good Shah, Mohammed, perished 
on his flight in a desert island of the Caspian Sea ; his valiant 
son, Djelal-ed-Din Mankberni, one of the glorified heroes of 
Oriental poetry, surrounded by his faithful Khowaresmians, cut 
his way from the Indus to the Euphrates. Here he fell be- 
neath the dagger of a Kurd assassin ; but his warlike bands, 
pursuing rapidly their march to Palestine, prostrated Saracens 
and Mamlooks, Templars and Crusaders, burnt and destroyed 
Jerusalem and her sacred sepulchre in 1244, and carried their 
destroying arms to the frontiers of Egypt. There they dispers- 
ed ; their chiefs, as mercenary condottieri, took service among 
the small princes of the Seldjukian Turks, on the Euphrates, 
and in Asia Minor, and the terrible name of Khowaresmian 
vanished from the page of history. They were devout Moham- 
medans ; their cavalry was unsurpassed ; and they cherished 
that peculiar aff'ection for their steeds which is the general 
characteristic of all the nations of the steppes. 

277. VII. The Dilemids or Zz'«r^5— 1080.— The lands 
south of the Caspian Sea, Mazanderan (Tabarestan) and 
Gliilan, were, from remote antiquity, celebrated for their fer- 
tility and beauty, and the luartial character of their inhabitants 
— the Mardi, Hyrcanians, and Parthians. The high mountain 
ridges of Casjrius and Labiita, on the south, protected them 
from the Arabian conquerors ; the fleeing Magi, as well as the 
persecuted Alite heretics, found a refuge on the secluded shores 
of that inland sea. Later, when the country had recognized the 
sovereignty of the caliphs, the Saracen governors did not 
tarry to declare themselves independent. Merdavidsch ex- 
tended his dominion over Ghilan, KoJiestan, across the Me- 
dian plains to Irak and Fars in a. d. 927, and in order to 
appear as the genuine descendant of the ancient Persian great- 
kings, he imitated their splendid court and their luxury, and 
supported his dignity by the Turkish mercenary bands, who 
flocked to his banner. Order and tranquillity revived in that 
remote and happy region, under the sway of four princes of 
the Dilemid dynasty ; their residence was Scheristan in Dilem, 
on the southwest coast of the Caspian Sea ; science, literature, 
and commerce flourished under their protection ; their young 
princes enjoyed the most careful education, a memorial of 
which is the curious book of Kiekawus : the inirror of the 
ivortJiy sovereign. Kabus Shemsil-al-Mali (sun of highness), 
was both poet and historian, but his natural ferocity and his 
relations to his powerful neighbors, the Buids, continually en- 
tangled hiiB iu wars. After his death by the hand of a Turkish 
soldier, the realm of the Dilemids was conquered by the Seldjuks 
and the Ismaelites, who divided the spoils. 

VIII. The Buids — -1056. — This remarkable dynasty took 
its origin from the warlike sons of the fisherman Bujah-Ben- 



FIFTH PERIOD.— MOHAMMEDAN DYNASTIES IN ASIA AND AFRICA. 



79 



Shetsa — Ali, Hassan, and Ahmed, who had served in the army 
of Merdavidsch of Dilem. Ali raised the banner of revolt 
in Kertch, and with the assistance of his brothers he soon sub- 
jected Kom, Kasbin, and Ray (Rhagae), the important defile 
toward Khorasan (210), and ruled over all Persia. His capi- 
tal was ScHiRAS, situate in one of the most delightful valleys 
of the world. ^5 The caliph of Bagdad recognized his indepen- 
dence and sought his alliance, and already the third Buid sov- 
ereign, Ahmed Moez-ed-Daula (arm of the realm), had become 
so powerful that the intimidated caliph was forced to nominate 
him Emir-al-0»irah. The Buids extended their sway victo- 
riously over all Persia, and ruled from the Euphrates to the 
frontiers of Khorasan, where they came in hostile contact 
with the Ghasnavids by whom they were repelled in 1039. 
But in Bagdad they maintained their dignity as great emirs 
and viziers of the caliphs, until, weakened by their own violent 
family feuds, they became, in 1056, an easy prey to the Sul- 
tans of the Seldjuk Turks. 

C. MoHASIMEDAN DYNASTIES IN SyRIA. 

278. IX. The Hamadanids, Kelabids, and Okailids — 
1086 — from the tribe of Thaleb, formed, in 892, their petty 
dynasties in Mesopotamia and Syria. The former were divided 
into two lines, the Hamadanids of Mossul (a. d. 892-978), 
and those of Haleb, who were vanquished by the Kelabids in 
1014. The realm of the latter, on the Tigris and Euphrates, 
was overthrown seventy years afterwards (in 1084), by the 
Okailids, who had already possessed themselves of Mossul in 
996. These small Mohammedan dynasties are more interest- 
ing to us on account of the flourishing state of Arabian litera- 
ture at their courts, than from the influence they exerted on 
the political events of the times. Several of these princes, 
such as Seif-ed Daula of Mossul, were themselves poets or 
philosophers, and they united around their thrones the most 
distinguished men in every branch of art and science, at that 
time more appreciated by the Arabs, than among the hunting 
and fighting princes of Christian Europe. 

D. — Sects of Mohammedan Heretics. 

279. X. The Karamathians IN Arabia. — The early hereti- 
cal sects which sprung up in the Mohammedan creed, diff"er in their 
character entirely from those which disturbed the Christian 
church after its recognition by Constantine in the beginning of the 
fourth century, because they were not dogmatical, but political ; 
they arose about the legitimate succession of the Prophet, with- 
out touching on the main doctrines or tenets of the Koran itself 
The great schism in the East began as early as the election of 
Abu-Bekr instead of Ali, the husband of Fatima the daugliter 
of Mohammed, in 632. Later, some sectarians claimed the 
succession for Hassan and Hossein, the sons of Ali — the Seid- 
ij^ — others recognized only the third son of Ali as successor 

"^ Shii-az in Farsistan, thirty miles southeast of the celebrated Per- 
jepolis (now in ruins), has a splendid climate, abundant crops of rice, 
wheat, and barley, the finest fruits, larger in size and more delicate in 
taste than those of Europe ; the grapes, oranges, and apricots of Shiraz 
are the pride of the Persians. In spring the air is mild, and perfumed 
with the odor of the finest flowers, and the eye delights in the rich and 
varied colors that, like a carpet, cover hill and dale. The garden night- 
ingale (the b<ll-btil), the goldfinch, and the linnet, unite at this season 
their melodious accents. Nor is the beauty and elegance of the Shiraz 
women less celebrated than the politeness and honesty of its citizens. 
With so many attractions, Shiraz has become the most desirable resi- 
dence in Persia, and the favored retreat of its poets — a Hafiz, a Sa'adj', 
or a Diamy, who have sung its praise in their tender and harmonious 
strains. 



— the Kaissani^. The Mohammedan mystics — the Ghullat 
— attributed divine qualities to Ali, and pretended that he 
stood in the relation to Grod — Allah — " as a son to the fa- 
ther ; " others again, and those were the most dangerous, be- 
lieved in a second advent of the Prophet, intended to restore 
virtue, peace and happiness on earth ; these were the terrible 
Karamathians, from the Arabian desert. Babek-Churrami 
preached the reform in Syria during the first half of the 
ninth century. The masses flocked around the enthusiastic 
preacher ; the most horrible cruelties were committed ; more 
than twenty thousand human beings perished in tortures, and 
the whole country was strewn with corpses and ruins. The fa- 
n atical spirit having once been excited, Al-Faradsh-Ebu-Osman- 
al-Karmath"^ appeared in 890 as the representative of Mo- 
hammed, preaching the advent of a seventh and last prophet, 
Ismael-Ebn-Djafer, in whom all divine secrets would be depos- 
ited. He gave a mystic interpretation to the Koran, and em- 
ployed a most efi'ectual and cunning deceit by initiated Dais, 
to spread his fantastical doctrines. These missionaries soon 
formed in the interior of Arabia a numerous band of followers — 
the Karamathians — who, victorious in the eastern province of 
Bahrain, advanced, sword in hand, to the gates of Bagdad, where 
the caliph sat trembling on his throne. Eaca, Bahdhek, 
Bussra, Kiifah, were laid in ashes ; in 929, Mecca shared the 
same fate. Thirty thousand people were butchered during 
the defence ; the Beit- Allah was desecrated ; the black stone 
carried off in triumph, and not brought back to Mecca until in 
9.50. After having spread devastation and murder over the 
Oriental world for nearly a century, the Karamathians were at 
last exterminated in 985, by Samsam-ed-Daula, but their bloody 
sect revived later in the Ismailiyeh or Ismaelites, on 
Mount Lebanon in Syria, and the still more terrible 
Assassins, at Rudbar and Lamsir in Dilem, on the shores of 
the Caspian Sea. 

B. — Mohammedan Dynasties in Africa. 

280. XL The Tulunids in Egypt. — The governor of 
Dejar-Messr, or Egypt, Ahmed-Ben-Tulun, declared himself 
independent of the caliph in 868. He took the title of Sul- 
tan, and repelled all the attacks of the Abbasids ; but his 
successors became weakened by their internal quarrels, and in 
the year 905, Egypt fell back to the caliphate. 

XII. Mohammed-al-Ikhschid, however, imitated the ex- 
ample of the Tulunids in 935 ; all was again rebellion and 
confusion. Abul-Kasem and Abul-Hassan-Ali succeeded him; 
but the Ikhschids were defeated and expelled in 969, by the 
intelligent and brave Moez-Ledin-Illah, the Fatimid. 

XIII. The Fatimids pretended to descend from Fatima, the 
daughter of Mohammed, and Ali, his faithful vizier. They 
had destroyed the Aglabid chiefs of Kairouan in Magreb-al- 
Ausah. Moez engaged an army of Berbers, and (213) marched 
upon Egypt. The defenceless country fell into his power ; he 
established himself at Kahira (Cairo), on the Nile, and took 
the proud title of Caliph and Emir of the faithful. His suc- 
cessors maintained themselves by shrewd politics, against the 
Abbasids ; they penetrated into Syria, and took possession 
of Jerusalem. Hakem Beamrillah, the third caliph, became 
the venerated founder of the religious sect of the Druses, 
though he appears to us a madman. Prompted by some sus- 

'" Al Faradsh took his name from the small town of lumnath, near 
Kufah, in Al-Batayeh on the Euphrates, and assumed the lofty title of 
the Guide, the Director, the Demonstration, the Word, the Holy Ghost, 
the Camel, the Herald, and the Forerunner of the Prophet and of the 
Angel Gabriel. 



80 



SIXTH PEKIOD.— A. D. 973-1096.— EMPIEE OF CANUTE. 



picion against the Christians, he ordered the holy sepulchre 
at Jerusalem to be demolished in 1010— an order which was 
carried into execution by the governor of Earnleh. The build- 
in o- was razed to the foundations, and much labor was ex- 
pended to deface and destroy every trace of the sepulchre of 
the Saviour itself." His laws against women were as absurd 
ns his lectures in his temple of wisdom. Every Monday and 
Wednesday the members of the wisdom-society assembled for 
theological disputations. They formed a university partaking 
ctrongly of Ismaelitic sectarianism. The Ilousc of tvisdom 
was built in Cairo, and furnished with libraries, mathematical 
instruments, professors, and other officers. All persons were 
allowed access to the literai-y treasures stored therein. The 
caliphs often presided at the lectures; the faculties were divid- 
ed into logic, mathematics, medicine, and law, and the Moham- 
medan professors donned their doctorial mantles, as did their 
Christian brethren in the medieval universities of Europe two 
centuries later. The successors of Hakem hid themselves in 
the seraglio ; they lost all influence, and on the death of the 
eleventh Fatimid, Ahded-Ledin-Illah, in 1171, the great Kurd, 
Sala-ed-Din — the son of Ejub, mounted the throne of Egypt. 

The first Arabian conquerors treated that country with 
barbarity ; they did not spare the magnificent monuments of 
antiquity, and emjDloyed the stones of the pyramids for their 
buildings. The Fatimids, on the contrary, protected art 
and literature. Cairo was by them adorned with those beau- 
tiful mosques which we still admire at the present day. Their 
sepulchral monuments, likewise, M'ere reared in the noblest style 
of Saracenic architecture. The last caliph, Ahded, possessed 
the largest library that ever had been collected in any Moham- 
medan country. Astronomy and chemistry flourished at the 
court otHakeni, whose name has been given to the astronom- 
ical tables of the great Arab astronomer, Ebn-Yunes. Egypt 
was then the home of wealth and prosperity, by the fertility of 
its soil, by its flourishing industry, and its extensive commerce 
with India. ^^ Thus, then, we find toward the middle of the 
eleventh century, the Mohammedan world broken up into 
quite a number of smaller dynasties in Asia and Africa, while 
the two contending high priests, the Abbasid"'* in Bagdad, 
and the Fatimid in Cairo, have lost their spiritual and secular 
power ; and Islam would perhaps already have gone to ruins, 
if its followers had not been roused to a new and more violent 
enthusiasm, by the gigantic invasion of the Christian arms 
from the West. 

Such was the state of the East when the rapid conquests 
of the Turkish Sultans in Asia Minor began to threaten the 
existence of the Byzantine empire ; and their occupation of 
Syria and Palestine at once roused the indignation of the war- 
like and pious Christian nations of Europe, and brought on 
those migrations and expeditions to the Holy Land, which for 
almost two centuries — ^1096-1291, changed the geographical 
position of nearly all the leading nations in Orient and 
Occident. 

The following chapter, and the accompanying map, will 
serve to exhibit these changes. 

"' See Professor Robinson's Biblical Researches in Palestine, vol. ii., 
p. 46. A cruel and senseless act, which at that time of religious vene- 
ration for the sanctuaries in Palestine, excited the highest indignation, 
and the deepest grief all over Europe, and began to prepare the minds 
for the armed occupation of the Holy Land— the crusades. 

"* The shrewd merchants of Egypt kept all knowledge about India a 
secret among themselves, and answered to the inquiries of the Venetians 
tliat the wind wafted the precious spices and incense from the trees of 
the earthly paradise; that the Kile carried them along from his un- 
known springs, and that it required deep mystical lore, and a particular 
art, to fish them out of the water ! 



CHAPTER VII 

EUROPE, WESTEEN ASIA, AND NOETHEEN 
AFEICA ; 

THEIR POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY AND ETHNOGRAPHY 
DURING THE TIMES OF THE CRUSADES — A. D. 1096- 
1291. 

Condition of the Christian and Mohammedan 
World before the First Crusade. 

281. Division. — At this important period in the world's 
history, when the great religious movement in the West pre- 
cipitated Europe upon Asia, we find twenty-six principal and 
independent states and nations in Europe and the adjacent 
parts of Asia and Africa, the greater part of which partici- 
pated more or less ardently in those events. Of these states, 
eight were situated in Northern Europe. I. The kingdom 
of Ireland ; II. that of Scotland ; III. that of Eng- 
land ; IV. that of De7imark ;. V. that of Slavinia^ or Vend- 
land ; VI. that of Norway; VII. that of Sweden; and 
VIII. the Grand Duchy of Russia. Five of these had, at 
the beginning of the eleventh century, belonged to the empire 
of Canute the Great, and they took, with the exception of 
England, no part in the first crusade. In central Europe we 
find five states, in some of which the movement was responded 
to with enthusiasm ; they were, IX. the kingdom of France ; 
X. the Romano- Germanic Empire ; XL the kingdom of 
Roland. ; XII. that of Hungary ; and XIII. the Chanates 
of the JJzi and Kiunani, or Polovtzi. In Southern Europe 
we behold six states, all with fanaticism, armed against the 
Mohammedans of the East and South : these were : XIV. the 
kingdoms of Leon and Castile ; XV. that of Aragon and 
Navarra ; XVI. the small kingdom of Valencia, all in 
Sjmin; XVII. the Norman duchy of P«o7^ff, Calabria, and 
Sicily ; XVIII. the Ralian republics ; and XIX. the By- 
zantine empire. In Western Asia, four states, or groups of 
states had been formed on the ruins of the caliphate of Bag- 
dad ; they were, XX. the sultanate of Rum, in Asia Minor ; 
XXL the sultanates of the Ortokids in Mardin and Diarbe- 
kir ] XXII. the states of the Atabeks in Al-Djesirah and 
Persia, and XXIII. the Turkish principalities of Antioch, 
Halep and Damascus, in Syria. In Northern Africa and South- 
ern Spain, we find three powerful Mohammedan empires ; they 
were, XXIV. the caliphate of the Fatimids in Egypt ; XXV. 
the kingdom of Kairouan (Mahadia), and XXVI. the empire 
of the Almoravids, in Magrab-al-Aksa and Andalos (Spain). 



L NOETHEEN EUEOPE BETWEEN 973 AND 1096. 

The Empire of Canute the Great, a. d. 1016-1035. 

282. Denmark, England (Bretland), and Norway were, 
in tlie beginning of the eleventh century, united under the 
sceptre of Knud Swendson or Canute the Great. Swedes, 
Welsh, and Scots rendered homage to that active and success- 
ful monarch, who seemed destined to lay the foundation of a 
mighty empire in the North. Yet a point of concentration 
was wanting ; the different nations of the empire were situated 
too far ofi" from one another, and a reign of nineteen years was 
not sufficiently long to accomplish the amalgamation. Nor 
did King Knud leave any enterprising and talented prince be- 



SIXTH PERIOD A. D. 973-1096.— IRELAND— SCOTLAND. 



81 



hind liiin to contimie and fully to carry through the great idea 
of union. A speedy separation therefore took place on the 
death of the Danish monarch in 1035. But the political and 
social consequences of this temporary union of all the North- 
men under the raven banner of Denmark was nevertheless of 
great importance. The desolating piracies of the Danish and 
Norwegian A^i-kings terminated for ever with the conquest of 
England, and the well-organized government of an enlightened 
Christian King, and the final introduction of Christianity and 
civilization among the half barbarous Northmen, was then most 
auspiciously accomplished by the strenuous exertions of the 
English bishops and missionaries, who were by King Knud pro- 
moted to the episcopal sees in his states.'* We shall now give 
a short description of the geographical aud political position of 
the northern regions during the eleventh century, before the 
beginning of the great " crusade to the East, and the military 
expeditions of the Danish kings for the conversion of the Scla- 
vonian and Lettic nations on the southern coasts of the Baltic. 



I. Kingdom of Ip^eland. 

283. Internal Feuds, Expulsion of the Danes, and 
Conquest of Henry II. — The internal history of the five 
kingdoms of Ireland (219), during the tenth and eleventh cen- 
turies, is better known than that of Scotland during the same 
period. It presents, however, nothing but wars among the 
clans, invasions of the coasts by the East-men, or confeder- 
acies of the Irish princes against those foreigners who already 
possessed the whole eastern and sotithern portions of the island. 
In the year 1014, Brian Boru, who stands recorded in the an- 
nals of Ireland as a model of royal virtues, a valiant hero, and 
a consummate statesman, raised himself to the sovereignty of 
the whole island. He then gathered the native forces, and ad- 
vancing upon Dublin, the capital of the Danes, defeated them 
totally in the bloody battle at Clontarf, where they lost their 
thousand celebrated vmil-men, and after another rout of the 
Dublin Danes in 1072, the Northmen were driven from their 
last stronghold, and expelled from the island. Brian himself 
fell, and the civil wars among the Canfinnies flashed up more 
violently than ever. The moral and social condition of the 
Irish people during the latter half of the eleventh century, was 
" as wretched," says Thomas Moore, in his history of Ireland, 
"as can almost be conceived;" and it appears that even the 
austere discipline of the Church gave way in this general de- 
generation and confusion. All these disorders made a national 
synod necessary. It came together at Kelhm Meath in 1152, 
under the presidence of a Romish Cardinal. Tithes were here 
introduced for the support of the clergy, and archiepiscopal 
palls distributed to the Bishops of Dublin, Cashel, and Tuam 
under the archiepiscopal chair of Armagh. The ecclesiastical 
revolution thus tranquilly and speedily effected, was followed 
by another of a political nature, which might have had bene- 
ficial consequences for the Irish nation. Roderic O'Connor, 
the king of Connaught, was elected sovereign king at the 
gi-eat convention oiAtkboym 1167. There, besides the heads 

"' Canute conferred many bishoprics on English prelates in Skaane, 
Sealand, and Fyen. St. Olaf of Norway, and King Olaf Skotkonning of 
Sweden, also invited priests and monks from England for the conver- 
sion of their subjects, as Sigefried, Siegeward, Wulfried, Rodulf, and 
^ others. The consecration of these bishops was performed by ^thel- 
noth, Archbishop of Canterbury, who strove with all his might to ob- 
tain for the English Church the supremacy over that of the north. 
The Archiepiscopal See of Hamburg, powerfully supported by Rome 
with investitures, and by the Benedictine Order with devotion and learn- 
ing, was then zealouslj'' engaged in the extirpation of heathenism in the 
north. See tlie excellent history of the Anglo-Saxon Kings by Dr. J. 
M. Lappenberg. London, 1845. Vol. II., page 204 et Mq, 

11 



of the church, the Canfinnies and their vassals met to the num- 
ber of thirty thousand horse and foot, and swore allegiance to 
their king-elect. Yet the Irish people was not destined to 
progress by its national development to civilization and happi- 
ness. Dermod M'Morchad, king of Leinster, who, on account 
of an atrocious breach of hospitality and his unchained pas- 
sions, had been driven from the island, fled to England, and 
applied to Henry II. to replace him on his throne, offering to 
hold his kingdom under the English monarch as the price of 
his restoration. Richard de Clare (Strongbow) and other war- 
like English nobles, at the head of their knights and archers, 
then landed on the coast of Leinster in 1169, and by their su- 
perior Norman armature and tactics, defeated the Irish in every 
battle. Though only some few hundreds, the Norman- English 
stormed and took Wexford and Dublin, and routing King 
Roderic and his unwieldy masses in a great battle, Strongbow 
remained the master in eastern Ireland. In 1172, King Henry 
came himself to Ireland with a splendid train of noblemen and 
troops, and the English thus secured a firm footing in Leinster 
and Munster, where they built Carrich, Kilkenny, and other 
castles. The petty chieftains did homage to Henry, and re- 
ceived him in Dublin with all the pomp of a sovereign. The 
Pope Adrian had earlier (1154) granted the English king the 
sovereignty over Ireland, on the condition of reducing it com- 
pletely under the spiritual authority of the Roman see, and 
paying the Peter's pence. This title had lain dormant during 
the troubles with France ; but the ecclesiastical council held at 
Cashel near Tipperary, now at once recognized the bull and the 
Papal donation. . Large tracts of lands were then portioned 
out among the principal English knights and warriors, the sys- 
tem of the English feudal laws and tenures was introduced, and 
a commencement thus formed for establishing the British domin- 
ion throughout the island. During this period the portion of the 
island subject to the English laws was called Dale ; it extended 
over the southeastern part of Munster, Leinster, and the east 
coast of Ulster, and was divided into twelve counties of Dublin, 
Meath, Kildare, Uriel (Louth), Catherloiigh (Carlow), Wex- 
ford, Waterford, Cork, Kilkenny, Kerry, Limerick, aud Tip- 
perary. Yet the tranquillity thus effected by the sword of a 
foreign invader was more nominal than real. The English 
barons themselves soon split into two contending factions — 
English by blood and English by birth — the old conquerors 
aud their descendants who, by intermarriages with the native 
Celts, had acquired the Irish customs, habits, and prejudices ; 
and the proud barons from England, who later came over to 
the island, with the hope of obtaining grants of castles and 
lucrative situations under the royal government. The former 
gathered their Irish vassals under their banner, and all was 
again dissension and civil war. The horrors of this state of in- 
ternal anarchy in Ireland continued throughout the twelfth and 
thirteenth centuries, and were still increased by the Scottish 
invasion of Robert Bruce, who after his glorious victoi-y over 
Edward II. at Bannockburn in 1314, sent his brother, Edward 
Bruce, to make a diversion against the English in Ireland. 
The brilliant Edward for three years kept the field victoriously 
against his mortal foes, but perished in 1318, in the battle 
on the Faughard near Dundalk, and with him the hopes of 
a union with Scotland. 



II. Kingdobi of Scotland. 

284. Internal Or.6anization and Relations to England. 
— The history of Scotland remains still enveloped in darkness 
after the union of the Picts and the Scots or Dalriads, as the 
Glaelic tribes of the Highlands were called by Beda. The 
successors of Kenneth II. availed themselves of the confusion 



82 



SIXTH PERIOD.— A. D. 973-1096. SCOTLAND. 



which the Danish wars occasioued in Enghiud to extend their 
dominion over the south. Canute entered Scotland with an 
array in the year 1031, and advancing through the Lowlands, 
forced King Malcolm II. to acknowledge him as his liege 
lord. Malcolm III., Kenmore, in the subsequent period, gave 
shelter to the Anglo-Saxon refugees who had escaped the 
Norman sword at Hastings. He mai-ried the sister of Edgar 
^theling, and supported the English in their repeated at- 
tempts at insurrection against their Norman oppressors. But 
when William the Conqueror crossed the Tweed, in 1073, 
and devastated the Lowlands with fire and sword, the Scot 
became so terrified, that he met the invader, and rendered 
him homage as his vassal and liegeman. The proud Wil- 
liam retired, satisfied with this humiliation ; he fortified 
Neivcastle and Carlisle, but permitted his Scottish vas- 
sal to retain Cutnherland, We&tmor eland, and the north- 
ern portion of Northumberland, as fiefs of the English 
crown. 

The Scots bore this vassalage with impatience ; they often 
invaded the northern districts of England, and many an obsti- 
nate battle was fought with the Normans on the border. The 
Scottish kings continued to protect all emigrants, both out- 
lawed Saxons and dissatisfied Norman knights, and gave them 
estates within the kingdom and important places in their coun- 
cil. The alliance of Malcolm with the Saxon princess, and 
the establishment of the English patriots on the border, were 
events of the highest importance for the consolidation of the 
Scottish kingdom. The amalgamation of the Saxons and Nor- 
mans with the native Pictish population was easy, and thus 
arose that warlike harder -hnighthood which for centuries be- 
came the bulwark of the independence of Scotland. These 
fierce warriors — the moss-troopers — built their towers or cas- 
tles in the strongest positions of the Cheviot hills, or in the 
pathless moors ; there they gathered their tenants around 
their strongholds, and were always in arms, and prepared for 
forays into the country of the enemy, or for the defence of 
their own (258). The borderers, high and low, the knights 
and their tenants, comjjosed small communities, united by 
military discipline ; the common danger brought together the 
lord of the castle and the peasant of the hamlet — tlie crested 
cavalier and the humble pedestrian boor, to whom the spur and 
the lance were forbidden in England and Germany (245). In 
Scotland they did not form separate nationalities. Each war- 
rior was armed as he best could be, in complete armor or in a 
lined doublet ; each mounted his war-steed or his pony. The 
peasant, whom the arrogant Norman disdainfully called villain, 
was in Scotland styled gude-man ; and the same language was 
then spoken in the castle, the town, and the cottage. The Low- 
lands having thus been divided among military chiefs, the feudal 
system was introduced in its severity ; and the power of the 
king would have been very circumscribed, if the barons had 
not been continually engaged in private feuds with one another. 
A second cause of disorder arose from the hostility of the Graelic 
inhabitants of the Highlands. The Celts, or ancient Scots, 
had vanquished the Ficts (220) ; but their native kings since 
Kenneth II. had allied themselves with the G-othic race, and 
taken their residence among them. The proud Highlander 
despised the men of the plain, and called them indiscriminately 
Sussanaeh, because they spoke the Saxon or Scandinavian 
dialect. The Gaelic considered their hostile descents and 
their levying black-mail in the Lowlands merely as reprisals 
of what had belonged to their forefathers. Yet this inter- 
nal hostility between the two races in Scotland, ceased at 
once when the blazing beacon-fires on the border-heights an- 
nounced the approaching invasion of the Anglo-Normans. The 
Highland clans then gathered with enthusiasm, and descend- 
ing with claymore and target, joyfully joined the mail-clad 



barons of the plain, in every expedition against the common 
enemy.""" 

285. Political and Ecclesiastical Division.- — The re- 
moval of the royal government to the Lowlands was followed 
by results disastrous to the future prosperity of the High- 
lands. The Gaels soon sunk into poverty and neglect ; the 
administration of the laws in the hills became inoperative, or 
was so feebly enforced, that the Highlanders gave themselves 
up to violence and turbulence, and took justice into their own 
hands for those injuries which the laws of the land could no 
longer redress. It was then that they formed themselves into 
ckms and tribes, which elected their chiefs, and became almost 
entirely independent of the crown. The power of these patri- 
archal chiefs was vei-y extensive ; they acted as judges and arbi- 
ters in the quarrels of their retainers and clansmen ; and, being 
supported by their tribe, they mocked at the royal authority. 
The most powerful clans in the west were ,the Cambelh, the 
Canierons, the 3'Iacdeans, on the peninsula of Morven and 
in the island of Mull ; the Macdou galls of Lorn, the Mac 
donalds of Glencarry, the Steivarts, Mqckenzies, and others. 
On the eastern slope of the Grampian hills resided the Stew- 
arts of AtJiol, with the Robertsons, the Ferguesons, the Gor- 
dons, the Grants, the Mackintoshes, the Rosses, and others. 
The Sincla,irs\fere situated on the northern promontory ; and 
along the lakes in the interior, the Frazers, Macphersons, and 
the Macgregors. All the tribes scattered on the western coast 
of Scotland, from the Mull of Cantirc to the northern cape, 
and in the Hebrides — Innisgall, or the Isles of the Gaels — 
recognized as their supreme chief the Lord of the Isles, who 
resided at the castle of Dunstajfnage, in a strong position on 
the western coast of Argyle, the ancient abode of the Celtic 
kings. Sometimes he dwelt in the castle o^ Artornish., on the 
strait of Mull, or in the isle of Yla (Isla), the finest and best 
cultivated of the Hebrides. There were held the courts of 
judicature, the members of which, like the ancient Areopagites 
on the Mars hill at Athens, sat on seats cut out in the living 
rock. There, too, the chiefs of the island-clans and those of 
the adjacent coast presented their sovereign prince with the 
sword of command, while the bishop of Argyle anointed him 
with pompous ceremonies. The sovereign power of the Lord 
of the Isles, however, was more nominal than real ; it did not 
extend over the Hebrides, because he acknowledged the king 
of Norway as his superior, and the bishop of that see, who 
resided at lona (I-colm-kill), was- suffragan of the ecclesiastical 
province of Nidaros in Norway (223). 

The national aversion of the Highlanders for the Scots of 
the Lowlands, tended to maintain this purely Gaelic royalty ; 
and during the eleventh and twelfth centuries the Lords or 
Kings of the Isles, of the family of the MacDonalds, treated 
with the kings of Scotland as independent potentates ; — their 
rivals in ordinary times, but their faithful allies against the 
Norman dynasty of England, as they proved later, in 1314, 
when Angus-Og MacDonald, then the Lord of the Isles, 
fought so bravely by the side of Robert Bruce in the battle at 
Bannockburn."' 

On the eastern coast lands lay the counties of Bvgiihan, 
Marr, Angus, Strathern, Fife, and the viscounty of Mernis. 
The southern Lowlands were likewise divided among many 
powerful feudatories, and every hill was crowned with a frown- 

10" For interesting sketches of tlie life and manners of the Scottish 
border-knights or moss-troopers during the middle ages, see the Min- 
strelsy of the Scottish. Border and the Border Antiquities of Englmid and 
Scotland, by Walter Scott, and likewise his admirable poems and tales. 
In ballad poetiy all the other nations of Europe must yield to the 
Scots, the Scandinavians, and the Spaniards. 

'" See the notes to Walter Scott's Lord of the Isles, and Augnstin 
Thierry's Histortj of the Conquest of England by the Normans. Lon- 
don, 1825. Vol. II., page 274, et seq. 



SIXTH PERIOD.— A. D. 973-1096. SCOTLAND— ENGLAND. 



83 



ing castle. The eastern couuty of March belonged to the 
Stewarts ; the county of Doiigtuss^ the viscounty of Teviot- 
dale^ and the seigniory of Gralloway to the Douglasses ; the 
county of Car rick on the western coast, and the viscounty of 
Annandale on the Scottish border to the Braces ; the vis- 
county of Ttveedale to the Hays and others. 

The ecclesiastical division of Scotland consisted in two 
archieplscopacies : I. Peovimcia Sancti Andre.e, with the 
dioceses of Catanensis (Caithness), Rossensts (Koss), and Mo- 
ravirnsis (Murray), and the suffragans of Abcrdonia (Aber- 
deen), Brevhinvm (Brechin), with the splendid monastery of 
Aherttrothoc ; Diiiihe/dt'ii on the Tay, and Diinblan on the 
Teith. II. Provincia Glascuensis, embracing the western 
Highlands, and the Lowlands, from the Frith of Forth to the 
Scottish border, with the single suffragan of Candida casa, 
Hwiterne, >' igton, in Galloway. 

286. Cities, Castles, and Historical Sites. — Stirling, in 
the plain of Carse, ou the Forth, at the western extremity of a 
high precipitous rock, crowned by the celebrated Stirling Castle, 
became an important town from its central situation, its strong- 
fortress, and its commanding the passage over the Forth. The 
Scottish kings therefore often chose it for their residence, and 
it was the scene of several of the most thrilling events in the 
history of Scotland. The view from the battlements of Stir- 
ling Castle, is, in point of extent, variety, and magnificence, 
unequalled by any other in Britain. Edin or Edivynes- 
burgh"''' (Edinburgh) was still a small unimportant borough. 
The first parliament was held there by Alexander II., in 1215, 
and it did not become the permanent capital of the kingdom 
until 1456. JPert/t, on the Tay, was, like Stirling, the royal 
residence in the earlier times, and the seat of a considerable 
trade, which the burgesses carried on in their own vessels 
with Flanders, and the Hanse towns on the Baltic. Fanum 
Sancti Reguli — Sand. Andreas (St. Andrews) was built by 
Saint Bule, a Greek missionary from Patrae in Peloponnesus, 
on a lofty cliff on the coast of Fife, the archiepiscopal see for 
eastern Scotland, with magnificent churches and monasteries. 
Glascua, (Glasgow), on the Clyde, early a populous and flour- 
ishing city, was the archiepiscopal see for western Scotland. 
Its jurisdiction and revenues extended over the counties of 
Lanark, Renfrew, Dumbarton, Ayr, Dumfries, Galloivay, 
and the western Highlands. Melrose Abbey, on the Tweed, was 
founded by King David I. in 1136, and richly endowed with 
lands and privileges ; it became one of the most magnificent 
monasteries of Scotland, though much exposed to the border 
forays of the English, and burnt down by Edward II. in 1316. 
Its beautiful ruins, in the purest Gothic style of architecture, 
still attract the . traveller, not less than the neighboring Ab- 
botsford, the late residence of the great Scottish novelist. 
Berwyc (Berwick), on the Tweed, the bulwark of the border, 
often captured by the English and retaken by the Scots, was 
frequently the residence of the Scottish kings, in times of aan- 
ger. Celebrated border-castles and strongholds of the Scot- 
tish moss-troopers during this and the following period were : 
Roxburgh and Jedburgh, ou the Teviot ; Seafort, Fernihurst 
and Eggerst.aine castles on the Cheviot hills ; Branzholm 
and Buccleuch, in strong positions, in the upper Teviot-dale ; 
Langholm and Arkinkolm, protecting the Eskdale ; Hoddom 
Castle in Annandale, and Dumfries in Niddesdale, 

The manners of the Scots continued barbarous. They had 
few enjoyments of life. David I. collected the hitherto un- 
written laws into a regular code, called Regiam Majestatem, 
from the initial words of the text. Many regulations regard- 
ing marriage and the wehrgeld, or compensation for man- 

'"'^ This name appears for the first time in the Charter of Founda- 
tion by King David I., given to the Abbey of Holyi-ood House in 1128, 
in wliieh lie calls the city "Burgum meum de Edwinesburgh." 



slaughter (called cro in the ancient Scottish dialect), were sav- 
age. King David placed the cities under a particular law ; 
the royal officers, the morlairs, or mayors, had the rank and 
influence of the counts in the states of the continent ; they 
were called thanes, and held the hereditary jurisdiction in their 
thanedoms ; later, they adopted the English title of barons and 
viscounts. The ruling dynasty became extinct in 1288, with 
Alexander III. His only sou had died, and he nominated his 
niece, Margareth of Norway, Queen of Scotland with the con- 
sent of the States. Her death during the passage in 1291, 
brought on that contention about the succession between the 
many pretenders to the crown, which forwarded the ambitious 
views of King Edward I. of England, and the victorious reign 
of Robert Bruce in our next period. 

III. Kingdom of England. 

287. The Danish Conquest. — Far more important are the 
political and social changes in England since our last visit to 
that island during the reign of King Edgar (221). The 
great j3Elfred had vanquished the Northumbrian Danes, and 
secured the tranquillity of the country; and the permanent set- 
tlement of the Northmen in Neustria (France) in 912, gave a 
happy respite of nearly a century to the Anglo-Saxons in Eng- 
land. That fertile country was then flourishing like a garden. 
Yet the Saxons, nobles and commoners, living retired on 
their estates and farms, neglected the military institutions of 
.iElfred, and gave themselves up to the peaceful occupations 
of agriculture, and the rearing of cattle on a larger scale ; and 
thus the Danes, on the renewal of their invasions toward the 
close of the tenth century, found no armed opposition ; but 
every where plenty of provisions, and herds of excellent steeds, 
with which those indefatigable warriors, as skilful horsemen 
upon the land, as daring sailors on the sea, rapidly organized 
their cavalry, and scoured the country in every direction. They 
took possession of Northumberland, Mercia, and East Anglia ; 
and so sadly had the military spirit sunk among the Anglo- 
Saxon kings, that, instead of gathering the strength of the na- 
tion for defence, they now raised the oppressive tribute called 
Dana-gelt, to satisfy the rapacity of the invaders. The Wat- 
linga street (221) became again the frontier-line between the 
two hostile nationalities. Yet the Danish sea-kings had left 
the coast with their fleets under the treaty with King -ffithelred 
II. the Unready, in 996 ; and only small bands of northern 
warriors were settled in the ceded districts on the east. Many 
of the Yarls lived there as guests on the estates of the English 
thanes, when suddenly, on the morning of Saint Brice's Day, 
the 13th of November, 1002, the whole Anglo-Saxon people rose 
in arms against their unsuspecting enemies. The dastard 
j3iithelred had plotted a general massacre of the Danes ; the 
most ruthless crimes were perpetrated all over the island by a 
nation professing Christian faith and integrity. Taken by sur- 
prise, the Danish Yarls and warriors, their families, merchants, 
young and old, men and women, were cowardly assaulted by 
the multitude of revengeful Saxons, and put to the sword, after 
the most heroical defence. No place of refuge proved then a 
sanctuary to the doomed Danes. Thousands perished; the 
Princess Gunhilde, sister to King Sweud Fork-Beard, was 
dragged into the square and beheaded, with her whole family. 
In the awful moment of the execution the courageous lady ex- 
claimed, in prophetic spirit, " that the slaughter of her chil- 
dren would cost the heart-blood of all England;" and her 
word proved true. The most terrible revenge was taken by 
her brother ; for fourteen years England was desolated by 
King Swend, and his moi-e celebrated son Kriud (Canute), 
who, at, last, in 1016, after the total defeat of the Saxons at 
Assington, made a treaty with the brave, but unhappy Prince 
Eadmund Ironside, according to which the kingdom was divi- 



u 



SIXTH PERIOD.— A. D. 973-1096. ENGLAND. 



ded between them. Wessex, East Anglia, Essex, including 
London, remained to Eadmund, while King Knud obtained 
Blercia, and all the north. The sovereignty was preserved to 
the Saxon. But after the murder of King Eadmund by the 
traitor Eadric, Knud of Denmark was acknowledged supreme 
kino- of all England. The Danish dynasty ruled the island 
for twenty-six years ; and on the death of King Hardiknud, 
in 1042 Edward the Confessor occupied the throne of his fore- 
fathers. Knud divided England into four large provinces : 
Wessex he reserved for his own rule ; Mercia, East-Anglia, 
and Northumberland, were awarded to his chiefs. He was a 
man of great talent, benevolence, and justice, who speedily 
took the proper measures for healing the wounds of the bloody 
war. The people became soon reconciled to the new master, 
and felt more happy under the equitable and energetic rule of 
the Dane, than they had been under their native sovereigns. 
Knud undertook no change in the old Saxon constitution ; and 
his splendid army of regular household troops^the celebrated 
hicus-karle — brilliantly equipped in gilt armor, and mounted 
on magnificent _ steeds, somewhat in the style of imperial 
Vceringer, in Constantinople (227, 262), secured the tranquil- 
lity of the island. 

288. Political Institutions of the Anglo-Saxons. — The 
old Anglo-Saxon kings had sprung from Woden, (Odin), and 
were originally only .the heretogas or army-leaders (79), who 
had conquered the island. They were elected by the nobles, 
but became hereditary cynings (kings), though the succes- 
sion sometimes passed to the brothers of the deceased king, 
to the exclusion of his sons. The powers of the German 
princes were limited ; yet they gradually gained authority, 
being strongly supported by the Roman clergy, who always 
secured the influence to their church through that of the mon- 
arch. The manners of the Saxon court were extremely plain ; 
the cyning was surrounded by his folgoth — gefolge — or train 
of military retainers. The bower thane (chamberlain) was at 
the same time hordere (royal treasurer). The next officer of 
rank was the disc-thegn, who presented the plates at the royal 
board, and the 'niund-skenk (cup-bearer), who filled the drink- 
ing-horn. The stallere or horse-thegn was often both marshal 
and banner-bearer. The aethlings or nobles (79) consisted of 
the descendants of the old sea-kings, among whom the lands 
had been distributed with military tenure. The provinces 
were governed by an earl or yarl, as in Denmark. The eal- 
dorman was the judge and count or military commander of 
the county. His office was not hereditary ; he received his 
horse and ai-mor from the king as his sworn officer, and they 
were sent back to the king on his death. The inferior nobles 
were the thanes or knights, who served in mail-armor on horse- 
back ; they were distinguished from the simple freeman, and 
possessed estates of from four to forty hides of land ; they were 
thus the predecessors of the Norman barons after the conquest 
in 1066. The squires, or half- freemen of the thanes were called 
drenge (boys) in Danish, but had in Anglo-Saxon the unpleas- 
ant, though still harmless name of knaves. These drenge or 
shield boys were bound to render military sei'vice to the pro- 
prietors of the chief manors ; they were much employed as 
border-wardens on the Welsh and Scottish frontiers. The sim- 
ple freeman was called ceorl (churl, villain), or frigman when 
living in the country ; and burghess when established as a me- 
chanic or tradesman in a town. The last class were the serfs, 
called thieves, whose forefathers had been British prisoners 
of war, or who themselves had lost their liberty as criminals. 
They were few, however, for we find not more than twenty-five 
thousand thieves in England at the time of the Norman con- 
quest. The poor serfs were better treated by the Anglo-Sax- 
ons, than the similar class, the tralle, in Denmark ; for they 
had their special ivehr-geld for their protection. The annual 



assembly of the " wise and wealthy men," or Witena-gemot, 
consisted of the great vassals from Wales and Cumberland, 
the numerous clergy, the earls, the kings' thanes possessing 
forty hides of land, and the chosen citizens from London 
called lith-men. The smaller thanes, the knaves and churls, 
and the whole mass of the nation, were not called to the diet — 
yet they crowded the doors and the lower end of the hall ; they 
filled the environs with their miiltitude ; and though they had no 
vote, they still expressed effectively the public ojnnion. Thej' 
too had their influence, and often was the crowned king, with 
his mitred prelates and high-capped earls, obliged to shape his 
counsel or conform his sentence according to the roaring shouts 
of applause or disapproval from the Anglo-Saxon masses out- 
side. Woman had in England as high a standing as in Den- 
mark, though the Saxon women did not appear with shield and 
lance like their sisters — the shield-maidens — from the Baltic 
(194). The petty kingdoms of Kent, Sussex, Essex, Surrey, 
Anglia, and the conquered Welsh and Cambrian districts, were 
early formed into scirs or shires (counties) and h.undreds, 
similar to the syssels and herreds of Denmark (222). Alfred 
reduced them to an equal portion in extent, mostly correspond- 
ing to the ecclesiastical division. The executive officer of the 
ealdorman and the count was the scir-gercfa or sheriff; he 
likewise levied taxes and contributions. The Saxon laws were 
mild ; the high administration of justice was lodged with the 
king and the Witena-gemot ; the former was continually jour- 
neying through the country to compose differences among the 
quarrelsome warriors and thanes. In the cities guilds were 
constituted for mutual protection. Several portions of Eng- 
land, such as Norfolk, Suffolk, and Ely, were beautifully cul- 
tivated.'"^ Anglo-Saxon commerce extended to France, Flan- 
ders, and the North ; the English vessels visited Iceland on 
account of the whale-fishing. Saxon merchants travelled to 
Italy ; the staple commodity of England was wool, which was 
exported to Flanders and Germany. The rich and happy 
farmer lived retired on his estate, surrounded by his gcbi/rs 
or peasants, his flocks and cattle, when the clangor of the Nor- 
man trumpets on the battle-field of Hastings, proclaimed the 
impending change in the political and social relations of 
England. 

289. Interesting Cities and Historical Places. — Lun 
den wye (London) and SoiitJiwark extended already on the 
banks of the Thames, and were united by the famous old 
wooden bridge, the scene of so many a skirmish during the 
Danish war. The city was strongly fortified by walls and 
towers, erected on the ancient Roman founda»iions, and the 
Fleet-ditch filled the moat. Above the low-timbered houses 
of merchants and mechanics rose still, here and there, the huge 
remains of Roman aqueducts and temples, and the rude, spire 
less churches of St. Paul, Saint Martin-le-Grand, and many 
others. High-walled, gloomy monasteries and nunneries were 
located in evei'y ward of the town. The Toiver of Constan- 
tino, on the east, was still standing ; while another castle (now 
Temple-bar) protected the mouth of the Fleet-ditch on the 
west. The roofs of the dwellings were thatched and reeded; 
the windows had no glass panes, but were closed by linen 
blinds. The streets were unpaved and muddy. Large squares 
opened in the interior, planted with clusters of trees, and di- 
vided by low palisades, where the motley and picturesque 
crowds of skin-clad Scandinavians, turbaned and caftaned Sara- 
cens, Lombard bankers in silken gowns, tight-dressed Germans, 
mail-clad Normans, and eagle-eyed and eagle-beaked Jews in 

™ Gardening occurs among the occupations of the Anglo-Saxons. 
Like the Danes, they called a garden ort-geard, in Danish urte-gaard or 
hei'b-court. that is, orchard. Vineyards were flourishing iu Glouces- 
tershire and other southern counties ; they were attached to every 
monastic establishment. 



SIXTH PERIOD.— A. D. 973-1096. ENGLAND. 



85 



flowing oriental drapery — all jostling one another — all intent 
upon business and traffic, already began to foreshadow the fu- 
ture mart of the world's commerce. West of the city, on the 
Thames, rose the huge cathedral of Westminster, built in the 
Saxon style by Edward the Confessor ; beautiful vineyards 
covered Holborn hill and Smithfields ; and the monks were 
not only remarkably expert in woi'kiug their vine-gardens, but 
they even knew how to season their sour harvest with pigment, 
honey, and odoriferous spices, and they thus produced a very 
palatable beverage. The most interesting place in " Old Lun- 
nen " was the guild-hall, where the burgesses and the neigh- 
boring thanes and knights, under the presidence of their eal- 
dormen, formed their brotherhood — \he guild-brothers — who in 
those lawless times gave full security to the lives and property 
of that industrious and enterprising corporation. The London 
burgesses ruled there like sovereigns, and were exempted 
from the jurisdiction of the king's gerefas or palatine counts. 
The jolly guild-brothers, with their broadswords at the baldric, 
assembled in their hall to feast, to receive their foreign gxiests, to 
form their funeral processions, and to discuss the measures for 
the conservation of peace and order among the members.'"^ — 
Otford, in Kent, where King Eadmund Ironside vanquished 
Canute in a pitched battle, and might have destroyed the 
Danish army but for the treachery of Eadric, who by his wiles 
induced the victor to desist from the pursuit of the retiring 
enemy. — Sceorstane (Sherston), in Wiltshire, where, the year 
before the former battle, 1013, Eadric already by his treachery 
had occasioned the defeat of Edmund and the Anglo-Saxon 
army. In the heat of the struggle, when the Danes began to 
give way, the yarl struck off the head of one of his own men, 
who in features and complexion bore resemblance to King Ead- 
mund, and lifting it on his lance in sight of his warriors, called 
aloud that the king had fallen, and that they were to save their 
lives by speedy flight. — Assandiin (Assingdon), on the Sture, 
in Essex, was the battle-fleld of that last great conflict between 
Canute and Eadmund, where the Saxons stood their ground till 
sundown, and continued fighting even by moonlight, when they, 
at last, were surrounded by the Danes and dispersed in all 
directions. — Ohiey, a small island in the Severn, where the two 
kings met after the battle of Assingdon, in 1016, and divided 
the country between them ; — Shaftesbury, in Dorsetshire, where 
King Canute died, in 1035 ; and Wiitchcster, eastward, in 
Hampshire, whei-e his body was deposited in the burial-vault 
of the West-Saxon kings ; — Stamford-Bridge, on the Dervent, 
east of York, the place where Harold Godwinson, the last 
Saxon king, vanquished in battle his rebellious brother Tostig 
and King Harald Haardraade of Norway ; who both perished 
by the sword in 1066, eight days before the battle at Hastings; 
— Senlac, near Hastings, in Sussex, on the southern coast. 
There, on the hilly ridge of Battle, where in later times stood 
the Battle-Abbey, took place the most sanguinary and eventful 
struggle in British history, on the 16th October, 1066, in 
which Harold Godwinson and the flower of the Anglo-Saxon 
chiefs and warriors perished, and William the Conqueror and 
his Norman knights with one blow overthrew the Anglo-Saxon 
kingdom. 

290. Acquisitions of the Saxon and Danish Kings, from 
Eadgar to William of Normandy. — King Eadgar (959-975) 
had already armed large fleets, with which he reduced the 
Danish sea-kings in Ireland by the conquest of Dublin (219). 
The Britons were driven out of Cumberland and Strath- 
Clyde, and both provinces became Scottish principalities under 
English suzerainty (103). Eadgar granted King Kenneth of 

'"* London had then likewise a chief municipal tribunal from the 
times of King Canute, which was called with a Danish name, huus-thing, 
or jury-assembly of sworn citizens ; from this is derived our modern 
hustings. 



Scotland the enfeofl'ment of Lothian, which afterwards led to 
the permanent incorporation of the Scoto-Saxon Lowlands with 
the Scoto-Gaelic kingdom. Edin (Edinburgh) had already 
been evacuated by the Saxons, and fallen into the possession of 
the Scottish king Ingulf. Canute not only received the hom- 
age of the Welsh princes, but he undertook in his old age a 
successful campaign into Scotland, and brought speedily King 
Malcolm and the petty dynasts, Mselbathe (Macbeth) and Jeh- 
marc, under his sovereign authority. Edward the Confessor 
maintained his dignity in the north by the heavy sword of Earl 
Siward of Northumberland; and Harold Godwinson gained 
his knightly spurs in his brilliant battles against the Welsh 
invaders of the Saxon plains. In 1063 he subdued North 
Wales ; Griffith, the native prince, fell, and every Welshman 
who appeared in arms on the east border of Offah Trench was 
to be punished with the loss of his sword-hand. William of 
Normandy left the Scottish king in possession of Cumberland, 
but he built the strong fortress of Carlisle, on the Eden, as a 
testimony of his supremacy. The Welsh had, however, during 
the Norman war thrown off the yoke, and remained armed and 
independent behind the bulwark of their mountains. 

291. The Norman Conquest, and Political Reform. — 
While the other Germanic nations of continental Europe ad- 
vanced with giant steps toward a higher civilization, the 
Anglo-Saxon people had remained stationary. England, with 
her weak, priest-ridden kings, her indolent and wrangling wit- 
tan-gemote, her mass-singing monks and bluff-faced aethlings, 
had abolished the military institutions of Canute the Dane, 
without substituting any national defence, even against the 
light-footed mountaineers of Wales, who, in spite of the heroic 
exertions of Harold Godwinson, from their western strongholds, 
ravaged the cultivated fields of the Saxons. A peaceful, reli- 
gious king and a cattle-breeding nation, without army, fleets, or 
fortresses, were for thirty years witnessing the astounding activ- 
ity of their warlike neighbors, the Normans, beyond the Chan- 
nel. Edward the Confessor died in 1042, leaving the contested 
succession to the brave and talented Harold Godwinson ; who, 
however, was unable to stem the torrent of events. The battle 
of Hastings decided the downfall of the old Saxon kingdom, 
by the destruction of thousands and the misery of millions of 
good-natured Saxons beneath the sword of the foreign invader. 
For their time had passed, and a new era, of Norman superi- 
ority in politics, ideas, arms, and civilization had sprung up. 
Young nations, brilliant with vigor and enterprise, are always 
irresistible. So were in antiquity the Greeks, so the Romans — 
so is in our own day the young American republic; though 
the influence of religion and civilization always will decide the 
character and the means by which the sweeping dominion is 
exerted. — The Normans had long ago burnt their piratical 
dragon-ships (236) ; they had mounted their war-steeds, and, 
for the first time, they now brandished the lance of chivalry. 
That institution had sprung from the spirit of the age ; it was 
hailed with enthusiasm by all the Germanic races of Europe. 
But it was still juvenile and inexperienced — it had not yet 
gained its golden spurs ; — it was on the gory battle-field of 
Hastings, among heaps of slaughtered thanes and aethlings, 
knaves and churls, who with the ponderous battle-axe of bar- 
barism made the vain attempt to stay the rush of time — it was 
there that chivalry was dubbed, strengthened, and consolidated, 
by the foundation of feudality in its severest forms in conquered 
England. 

The fall of King Harold, the dispersion of the dismayed 
Anglo-Saxons, and the surrender of London, at once secured 
the conquest of England. William of Normandy was the man 
for so great an undertaking ; he was as prudent a statesman as 
he was a bold and successful warrior. Though he flattered the 
English, he riveted their chains by the introduction of the feu- 



SIXTH PERIOD.— A. D. 973-1096. ENGLAND— DENMARK. 



dal military system of Normandy. He undertook no change 
in the internal division of the country ; the sldres and their 
hundreds, the dioceses of the church, and the general adminis- 
tration of the cities, remained Anglo-Saxon, as they had been 
under the Danish and Saxon kings. But he distributed do- 
mains, castles, villages, and even entire towns to his Norman bar- 
ons and knights, Avhile their vassals were again rewarded with 
smaller portions. Towers and fortified castles arose in every 
direction. To overawe the city of London, the conqueror took 
up his abode in the Tower, which he enlarged and strength- 
ened. Here he raised his dreaded banner, bearing the three 
lions ; and similar menacing ensigns floated over several new 
castles on the west of the capital In the organization of his gov- 
ernment, and, as his power depended on the sword alone, all grants 
and fiefs awarded to laymen and ecclesiastics were burdened 
with the condition of furnishing, whenever required, a certain 
number of horsemen, completely armed ; and by this regula- 
tion, called KnigJds^ service, the king was enabled to raise, in 
a brief space, an army of sixty thousand cavalry. The tenants 
of the crown exacted a similar and proportional service from 
their dependents, and thus the feudal chain was linked, and 
held the whole system together. The count or governor of the 
province stood next in rank to the king ; then followed the vis- 
count, the baron, the knight, the squire, and the sergeant-at- 
arms, — all considered as nobles, and each one of them by his 
feudal estate dependent on his immediate liege-lord, whose ban- 
ner or summons he followed. A general survey, terrier^ or 
rent-roll, was made of all territory in England, as far north as 
the province of York, the particulars of which were inserted 
in the great roll of Winchester, by the Saxons called the book 
of the last judgment — the celebrated Doomsday- Book — per- 
haf)S because it contained their irrevocable sentence of ex-pro- 
priation. From this minute document we learn that seven 
hundred large estates were awarded to the leaders of the Nor- 
man army, the Barons ; their estates were again subdivided 
into sixtj? thousand two hundred and fifteen mesne-Jiefs, held by 
their valvasors (vavasors) with military tenure ; of these, no 
less than twenty-eight thousand and fifteen belonged to the 
church. The smaller and less important estates were, by spe- 
cial favor, left in the possession of the Saxons ; and few were 
those who continued to be free proprietors, or tenants-in-cldef, 
ranging directly under the crown. All the rest of the dis- 
persed Saxons were found only in the lowest rank. Some 
names of Anglo-Saxon extraction belonged to farmers settled 
on the domains of Norman barons, knights, or servants-at- 
arms.'"'^ Thus William the Conqueror commanded the service 

""^ By this cruel acid arbitrary decree, the entire body of the Nor- 
man conquerors, though scattered and distributed over the vast territo- 
ry of the vanquished Saxons, remained still united by the link of duty 
and military discipline, and, as it were, marshalled in the same battle- 
array as on the field of Hastings. The subaltern warrior owed faith 
and service to his military superior ; and the knight who held lands 
from the Ijaron was bound to vault into the saddle at his summons. But 
this singular division did not stop here ; the kuight himself gave a por- 
tion of his tenure to his squires, and these again to their servants-at- 
avms (sergeants), the lowest order of horsemen ; nay, even to their 
valets, or grooms, who attended to the baggage, or served on foot as light 
infantry and bowmen. The rank of the king's vassals, in the lan^uao-e 
of the times, ran : duke, count, viscount, baron, chevalier, esquire, ser- 
geant and valet. "William the Conqueror himself stood as Duke of Nor- 
mandy immediately under the crown of France, but in England he was 
a sovereign prince by the sword. During a period of war and spolia- 
tion, the most extraordinary fluctuations would necessarily take place in 
rank and fortune. Talents and bravery, or the chances of war, would 
carry the warrior rapidly from the lowest grade to the highest. Many 
a poor adventui'er, who crossed the channel in his quilted cassock, with 
a bow in his hand, would afterwards appear to his countrymen, who came 
over after hire, mounted on his war-steed, and brandishing the knightly 
lance. Nay, this system of obedience served even to control the haughty 
bearing of the churchmen themselves, because they likewise held their 



of a large feudal army at its own expense ; but he, like Charle- 
magne, knew the advantage of having bodies of household 
troops of his own (167), in whom he might put greater trust, 
and of whose services he could permanently dispose. By the al- 
lurement of high pay, William therefore gathered adventurous 
warriors from every part of France, Flanders, and Brittany, 
even from Germany and Spain, under his lion-banner ; and he 
quartered them upon the poor suffering Saxons, according to 
the proportion of their possessions. With an army so com- 
pletely organized, William was enabled to crush every attempt 
at insurrection among the down-trodden English, and he could 
even venture to punish any encroachment of his own arrogant 
chiefs from Normandy. Many of the latter, supposing them- 
selves ill-rewarded for their services, fled to Scotland, where we 
have seen them well received, and afterwards forming together 
with the English exiles, the body of the vigilant Scottish moss- 
troopers, or border wardens (284). 

The spoliation and taxation inflicted on the towns and bor- 
oughs was as great as that put upon the Saxon thanes, and 
other landed proprietors ; and it is only in the next period, 
during the crusades, that we can discover the slow development 
and final emancipation of the cities. A large tract of country, 
extending for thirty miles, between Salisbury in Wiltshire and 
the sea, was laid waste, and converted into wood by the con- 
queror. This was the nova forcsta, or new forest, which did 
not only serve as a royal chase, but had the special object of 
insuring the Norman recruits a safe place of disembarkation 
on their arrival on the coast of England from the continent, 
where no Saxon enemy could molest them. William secured 
his northern frontiers by fortifying the cities of Newcastle and 
Carlisle ; but he was too much occupied in England and Nor- 
mandy to molest the Welsh behind their mountains. Having 
thus laid the sound foundation of his dominion in England, Wil- 
liam died in 1087, and his successors, William Rufus, Henry I., 
and Stephen of Blois, ruled England and Normandy until the 
year 1154, when the Plantagenet dynasty (1 154-1272) mount- 
ed the throne with Henry II. No' remarkable geographical 
changes took place during this period, until the marriage of 
Eleanor of Poitiers with Henry the Second at once transferred 
the finest provinces of France to the crown of England, and 
gave rise to those pretensions which for three centuries kept the 
two rival nations in almost continual hostility towards each 
other. 

IV. Kingdom of Denmark. 

292. Dynasties, Constitution and Manners. — We are 
now approaching the most brilliant period in the medieval his- 
tory of Denmark. The union of the mainland of Jutland, the 
islands, and Skaane (222) under the sceptre of King Gorm the 
Old, in 883, and the introduction of Christianity under his 
son, Harald Bluetooth, were auspicious events, which, during 
the reign of King Knud the Great, caused a remarkable 
change in the ideas, manners, and institutions of the warlike 
Danish nation. Knud, while occupied in conquering England 
and Norway, gave his most zealous encouragement to the pro- 
pagation of the Christian faith at home, and it soon supplanted 
the ancient superstition. One half of the nation had still ad- 
hered to the worshij) of Odin, but churches and monasteries 
were then erected, and filled with English and German priests 
and monks. Knud himself went to Rome in 1027, and was 
magnificently received both by the German Emperor and the 
Pope. Piracy had ceased with the more regular expeditions 
to England ; the Northmen began to turn their attention to 
agriculture and the arts of peace. Knud introduced a certain 
splendor into his court and army, and the comforts of civilized 

estates with military tenure, which would be forfeited if they refused 
to send their vassals to the army. 



SIXTH PERIOD.— A. D. 973-1096. DENMARK. 



87 



life penetrated from the south into the north, among the still 
rude Scandinavians. The Danes excelled in shipbuilding; 
their war-ships, or dragons, brilliantly painted and gilded, an- 
swered the double purpose of swift-sailing vessels and tower- 
ing fortresses. For the purpose of organizing the naval force 
of the kingdom, all the coasts of the islands were divided into 
districts, each of which furnished a certain number of ships, 
that were manned by maritime conscription. Yet the conquests 
of that period were of no lasting advantage to Denmark ; the 
extensive dominions of Knud the Great were, on his death, in 
1035, partitioned among his sons. The crown of Norway was 
soon lost to the brave Magnus the Good, the son of Saint Olaf 
England, after the short reigns of his sons Harald Harefod 
(light-footed), and Horda-Knud, fell back to Edward the 
Confessor, of the old Saxon dynasty of iEthelred, while the 
national diet in Denmark elected Svend Estridson, son of a 
sister of Knud, whose dynasty, under many vicissitudes and 
civil wars, occupied the Danish throne from 1035 to 1412. 
The ancient sea-kings and rovers had now become Jarls, or 
governors, and Hlrdmcend, or royal court-officers, who, although 
without any hereditary rights, began to form an aspiring aris- 
tocracy. The clergy, too, exerted that powerful influence, 
which later developed itself in a truly hierarchical despotism. 
They supported the royal authority under the unstable and 
quarrelling sons of Svend Estridson, whose powers were yet 
very limited. All public transactions were decided at the gen- 
eral or provincial diets — Rigsnwder or Landsthing — held in 
different parts of the kingdom. These numerous assemblies 
consisted of the clergy, the Hirdmjend, and the free landhold- 
ers, or Bonder (222) — a fine, independent class of men, who, 
with shield and broadsword, or battle-axe, surrounded the 
throne. The king presided, and the mass of the free popula- 
tion, by acclamation, resolved on peace or war, on taxes, and 
other leading questions of legislation and executive power. 
Thus we distinctly perceive that the German and Norman- 
French feudal system, with its crested barons, prancing on 
their barbed coursers, and disdainfully looking down on the 
Bonder, whom they had reduced to villains and serfs, that 
pernicious change in the institutions of Central Europe, did 
not extend to Denmark before the middle of the twelfth centu- 
ry, after the feudal chains had been riveted for more than a 
century over every other part of Western Europe ; nor did it 
ever advance farther north than Sweden, and it never got a firm 
footmg on the rock-bound coast of Norway (223). The first 
written laws of Denmark were the celebrated Vitlierlags-Ret, by 
Knud, given to the Huuskarle of his regular army. The old 
laws and obseiwances of Skaane were collected and published 
in the beginning of the thirteenth century ; those of Sealand 
and Jutland appeared under King Waldemar II. ; the latter on 
the diet of Vordingborg in 1244. Several parts of Denmark, 
such as Skaane, Sealand, and Fyen, were highly cultivated. 
Mechanics and artists were called in from Germany ; young- 
Danes already visited the newly established universities of 
Italy and France. The Guild, or Brotherhood of Roesliilde, 
secured the coasts against the Vendish pirates ; that of Schles- 
wig served as a model for those later granted to the rising 
cities of Jutland and the islands. Commerce was flourishing 
in the earlier period ; but during the civil wars of King Niels 
and his successors, the neglect of the naval establishments 
permitted the Vendish pirates to annihilate the commerce of 
Denmark, and to desolate its coasts. Yet the chivalrous race 
of the Waldemars (1157-1243) soon stimulated the nation to 
the greatest exertions ; and, carrying the banner of the Cross — 
the Banebrog — victoriously to Vendland, raised the Danish 
nation to the highest pitch of conquest and prosperity."-"' 

'"'' During this period the Danish kings began to exact toll of the 
foreign ships which passed through OEresund, or the Sound, into the 



293. Extent, Provinces, and Cities. — In the middle of the 
twelfth century, Denmark extended from the frontiers of Smaa- 
land, in Sweden, across the islands to the river Eider, which sep- 
arated it from Germany. It embraced a surface of nearly eight 
thousand square miles, and was inhabited by a more scattered 
population than at the present day, for it did not amount to a 
million of souls. I. Skaane, Avith Halland and Bleldnge 
(222), was separated from Sweden by lakes, and gloomy forests 
of pine and fir, where roamed the bear and the wolf, and the 
still fiercer robbers and outlaws, who, having found a refuge in 
the wilderness, waged a continual border -war similar to that 
of the moss-riders, on the moors of Scotland (284, 286), or 
the Spaniards and Saracens on the banks of the Duero (258), 
though not softened by the romantic and chivalrous manners 
of the South. Skaane was as distinguished by its splendid 
beecb-woods, fertile soil, and high cultivation, as by its warlike 
and industrious inhabitants, the Skaaningers, who, however, 
from their love of liberty, were always ready to rise in arms, 
and involve the kingdom in dangerous rebellions. The spirit 
of the times, the age of church-dominion and crusades, had 
at last pervaded the North ; more than three hundred church- 
es, monasteries, and chapels, adorned the hills and valleys of 
Skaane ; and in Lundegaard, the northern Vatican, close to 
the magnificent cathedral of Sancti Laurentii, in the city of 
Lund, sat the proud Archbishop of Denmark, who styled him- 
self, " by grace of God the prinias and legate of Saint Peter 
over Denmark and Sweden.''^ Surrounded by his steel-clad 
vassals and numerous clergy, he vied in splendor and power 
with royalty itself. Catholic enthtisiasm had at once super- 
seded the wild fanaticism for Odin and the joys of Valhalla. 
New towns and villages arose around the sanctuaries of piety 
and peace. The white-cloaked Cistercians, and the black- 
hooded Benedictines, built their monasteries on the banks of 
the lakes ; they opened their schools ; they protected the peas- 
antry that crowded around them, for the stafi" of the Bishop 
had now become a more powerful protection than the sword of 
the Yarl ; nay, the impulse of religion even sought refuge in 
the depth of the forests, where the solitary bell of the her- 
mitage assembled the wild hunters, whalers, and fishermen, to 
the worship of the Virgin. Fodevig, on the western coast, 
became the celebrated battle-field during the civil wars in 1034, 
where King Niels was defeated, and his treacherous son Prince 
Magnus perished, together with sixty-five bishops and prelates, 
who were found in full armor among the heaps of the slain. 
II. Sealand (222), with Bornhohn, Laaland, Falster, Mden, 
and the smaller islands, was then the centre of the kingdom. 
Roeskilde, the populous and open capital of Denmark, extend- 
ed through gardens, fields, and hedges, along the shores of the 
Issefjord. The interior was occupied by the royal castle — 
Kongsgaard — fortified with moats and towers, and the splen- 
did cathedral of Sancti Lucii, built in 1084 by Anglo-Saxon 
architects, in the earlier Gothic style of architecture. In or- 
der to defend the city against the expeditions of the Vendish pi- 
rates, it was surrounded by walls and moats in 1151, and pro- 
tected by the Castle of Haralclsborg, on a promontory in the 
frith. In the neighboring forest of Haraldsskov, Prince Magnus 
of Denmark assassinated the noble-minded Knud Lavard, the 
father of Waldemar I., and first Duke of Schleswig, in 1131 ; 
and in the royal hall took place the terrific scene of the mur- 
der of the innocent King Knud V. by his rival, Svend Grathe, 
which caused the union of all Denmark under the sceptre of 

Baltic. The origin of this impost is unknown, but it seems that it be- 
gan to be levied as early as the twelfth century, when the Danes, being 
masters of both shores, swept the Baltic with their cnisading fleets, and. 
pi'obably chose this way to declare their pre-eminence. In the fifteenth 
century their exaction was already considered to rest upon a very an- 
cient custom. See the Geography of Maltebrun, Book 149. 



88 



SIXTH PERIOD.— A. D. 973-1 09G. DENMARK— VENDL AND. 



the great \yaldeniar I. iu 1157. Sealaud had already seve- 
ral thriving commercial cities : Krogen, (Elsinore), on the 
Souud, Kallundborg, Sl.jelsljdr, Wbrdingborg, Ringsted 
(190), Nestved. Axelhuus, a strong fortress on the Sound, 
was built in 1168 by Archbishop Axel Absalon, for the 
protection of the merchants' ships in the Baltic. A small 
town having rapidly grown up around the fortress, it was 
called K.TOBMANS Havn, or MercJocmV s Haven, from which, 
by contraction, Kiobcnhavn (Copenhagen), the later capital 
of Denmark. Sealand had more than two hundred church- 
es ; and its wealthy monasteries, Esrom, on the banks of 
a beautiful lake in the north of the island, Anverskov and 
Soroe, in the interior, were as celebrated for the elegance of 
their architecture, as for the learning and piety of the monks. 

III. Fyen, with Langeland, Taasinge, and its group of 
smaller islands, was called the garden of the North ; on the sun- 
ny shores of Svendborg, the monks contrived to rear the vine ; 
hops and fruit-trees covered the valleys ; splendid forests of 
beech and oak, the hills ; the Fyenboer were fiery and sensual, 
like the Italians. The neighboring islands became dreadfully 
exposed to the incursions of the Vendes, during the civil feuds, 
and many Sclavonic names on the islands of Falster and Sea- 
land, such ^s.Korselitze, Kramitze, Herritzc, Kuditze, seem 
to indicate their permanent settlement there. Odense (222), 
a handsome, populous city, with the cathedral of Saint Al- 
ianus. It was here that King Knud IV., while equipping an 
expedition, in 1086, against William the Conqueror, for the 
recovery of England, was assailed by the discontented multi- 
tude, and killed by a stone thrown into the church. By the 
influence of the clergy, the cruel, but devout king became canon- 
ized as martyr and saint, and the miracles performed at Saint 
Knud's shrine raised him to the rank of patron-saint of Denmark. 

294. IV. NoRRE Jylland — North Jutland — the home 
of the Longobards and the Jutes (80, 222), was a dreary region, 
covered with heath and swamps in the interior ; its western 
coast was sandy, and its navigation dangerous because, of reefs 
and shoals ; but the deep friths on the east were smiling in 
beauty and fertility, and thickly inhabited, while the more open 
coast on the Kattegat and the Baltic remained deserted from 
fear of the Vendish pirates. Splendid cathedrals were built 
at Vibo?g, Aarhzius, Ribe and Borgland, the four dioceses of 
Jutland, and many a monastery, such as VitcB Schola and 
Oxholm on the Liimfjord, Asmild and Clara Insida, in the 
interior, transformed the dreary wilderness into an oasis of 
cultivation and wealth. 

V. Syd-Jylland — Sotitli-J'utland, or Duchy of Sleswig 
(Schleswig). —Z)Mca(!?<s Jutice — was more fertile, better culti- 
vated, and more densely inhabited than North Jutland, from 
which it was separated by the brook Konge-aa (King river). 
Its inhabitants were the Angles (82), who in the northern part 
of the province spoke the Danish, and in the south the Loiv Ger- 
tnan, or Saxon dialect.'"' Canute had obtained the cession of 
the German margraviate of Schleswig (222, 247), from the Ger- 
man emperor Conrad the Salian, during his travels to Rome 
in 1027; and thus the Eider once more formed the boundary 
between Denmark and the Romano-Germanic Empire.'"* Yet 

"' In 1837 Dani.sli was spoken unmixed in 116 parishes, witli 
113,256 inhabitants, situated in the central and northern parts of the 
duehy. In 36 parishes, with 45,460 inhabitants, the Danish is generally 
spoken, but German is used in school and church. The former lan- 
guage is likewise spoken and understood in Tondern, Flensborg and 
the dioceses of Gottorp and Bredsted, with 36,000 souls— so that Danish 
is still the mother-tongue for 194,700 Sohleswigers, among the 850,000 
who inhabit the duchy, thus forming a decided majority. 

'"" This cession by the German Emperor is confirmed by an ancient 
inscrii)lioii— 7i'('fora Romani terminus imperii, which for centuries stood 
over tlie old Holstein gate of Rendsborg. That town was then the 
border-fortress of Denmark, which ppssessed all the tolls and duties on 



the feuds on the borders with the Vendes and Saxons rendered 
it necessary for the Danish kings to place a commander in 
South Jutland, who, with full powers and a strong body of 
troops, could secure the tranquil possession of the frontiers. 
The noble-minded Knud Lavard (Lord), the sou of King Eric 
the Good, was therefore by his father created dux or licrtug of 
South Jutland in 1102. Crossing the Eider, Duke Knud, in 
many successful campaigns, vanquished and conquered the 
heathen Vagrians, Obotrites and Vendes, who elected him their 
king. This title was recognized by the dukes of Saxony and 
the counts of Holstein, and soon gave a new direction to the 
energy of the Waldemars, who for nearly a century became 
engaged in crusading expeditions and conquests on the south- 
ern coast of the Baltic. Schleswig, on the Schley, was then 
a very flourishing commercial city, which sent her ships to 
Sweden, Russia, and England. In this city the brotherhood of 
Saint Knud massacred the murderer of their beloved Knud 
Lavard, King Niels of Denmark, who in 1 134, after his defeat 
at Fodevig, haughtily entered the guild-hall with the words — 
" I do not fear those lo retched skinners and shoemakers ! " 
On the Schley Duke Abel caused his brother. King Eric, the 
successor of Waldemar II., to be beheaded in 1250. Flens- 
borg on the north, and Tondern on the west, became thriving 
towns. Locus Dei (Lygum) and Giddholm were celebrated 
convents. On the western coast the North Frisians still pre- 
served their independence, and beat back all the attempts of 
the Danish kings to reduce them to subjection. 

V. Kingdom of Slavia or Vendland. 

295. Extent, Division and Cities. — Regnum Slavini-e, or 
Slavia, extended from the river Eider, near Schleswig, on the 
west, along the southern coast of the Baltic eastward to the 
Oder, and in the interior, to the river Spree and the lakes of 
Brandenburg. It was inhabited by the powerful Sclavonic 
nation of the Vendes (91, 188, 227), which was subdivided j 
into three principal tribes, on the west, the Obotrites and ' 
Vagrians, the neighbors of the Danes, the Wiltzes or Wela- 
tabes (195), on the Elbe, south toward Magdeburg, and the 
Pomeranians, on the east beyond the Oder toward the 
Vistula, where they bordered on the savage Borussi or Prus-_. 
sians. The dukes of Saxony began early to wage desolating 
wars against the Vendes, and erected some bishoprics for the 
introduction of Christianity among them, but without any 
great success. A valiant Obotrite, Prince Gottschalk, 
placed himself in 1042 at the head of the nation as king of 
the Vendes, and extended his kingdom eastward to the 
Vistula. Gottschalk was a very remarkable man; he had 
received his education in Denmark, where he married a Danish 
princess. He promoted the introduction of Christianity by 
means of Danish and Saxon missionaries, but the violence of 
his reforms excited the native Sclavonian chiefs against him, 
and he fell the victim of a conspiracy plotted in 1066 by his 
own relative, Plusso. The Vendes now rose in a furious insux-- 
rection against pHests and monks, who were ruthlessly slaugh- 
tered or driven out of the country. Prince Henry, the son of 
King Gottschalk entered Slavia with an army of German 
crusaders, and succeeded by mildness and prudence, to restore 
order and religion. He built the city of Liibeck on the Trave, 
and encouraged agriculture and commerce ; but his death in 
1 121 brought on those intestine feuds among the Sclavonian 
chiefs, which in 1168-1173 terminated with the conquest of 
Vendland by the kings of Denmark. 

The Vendes and the Prussians were the wildest of the 
Sclavonian nations. They lived in miserable huts ; tlieir . 

the Eider. In the fourteenth century Rendsborg was ceded to the 
counts of Holstein. 



SIXTH PERIOD.— -A. D. 973-1096. NORWAY. 



89 



/ dress was squalid ; among the nobles polygamy was frequent, 
,/ and they were the only people among the Sclavonians who 

v^ treated their women with scorn and cruelty. They were equally 

savage in their wars, and defended their villages with rude 

>. inclosures and ditches. Their religion was a kind of Saba- 

• ism, mixed up with superstitions from the north. They adored 

the sun, but their principal deity was the horrible monster 

, Svantevit (188), with four heads turned toward the four quar- 

V ters , of the world, like the Hindoo Brama. Their priesthood 
constituted a separate order, of great political influence, and 
they maintained a splendid worship in the great temple of 
Arcona. Their peculiar rage was directed against the Danish 
churches and monasteries, which they every where, during their 
piratical expeditions, devoted to the flames, ravaging the coasts, 
and carrying the wretched inhabitants away into slavery. The 
Vendes themselves excited that enthusiastic crusading spirit 
among the Danes in the 12th century, which at once swept 
idolatry and barbarism from the shores of the Baltic. Lu- 
BECCA (Lubeck) was their capital, which afterwards became an 
Episcopal see, and a flourishing commercial city. Arcona, on 
the beautiful island of Rugen, was the central sanctuary of 
Svantevit, with its priestly palaces, and immense treasures, 
which were carried in triumph to Denmark. The whole island 
remained afterward annexed to the Episcopal see of Roeskilde. 
WoUin (Julin), on the large island Jom (WoUinische Wer- 
der), at the mouth of the Ode?-, was another large city of the 
Vendes. On the south-eastern promontory of the island, the 
Danish Viking Palnatoke,"*' so celebrated in the traditions of 
the north, had established in 960 the singular Republic of 
JoMSBORG. Palnatoke built his robber's nest upon the severest 
model of ancient Spartan discipline ; the virtues of valor and 
contempt of death were exalted above all other qualities — above 
the very laws of nature. The endearing ties of love, and the 
society of woman, were sternly forbidden. Corsairs from every 
part of the north hurried to Jomsborg to enlist among its in- 
domitable Vikings. Thus the bravest warriors and the fleetest 
and best-armed galleys obeyed the command of the pitiless 
chieftain, and this bold creation of the 10th century con- 
tinued to flourish, to strengthen itself, and remain the scourge 
of all the neighboring coasts until the close of the 1 2th century, 
when it was finally extirpated by King Waldemar I. and his 
Danish chivalry in the year 1 170."" 

VI. Kingdom of Norway. 
296. Vicissitudes and Constitution. — The most tumultu- 

™ Palnatolie is one of the fiercest characters of the heathen Vikings 
standing on the verge of time when. Christianity began to throw its 
light into the north. His liistory forms an exact counterpart of that of 
William Tell in Switzerland. According to Saxo Grammaticus, Palna- 
toke was ordered, by King Harald Bluetooth, to shoot an apple off liis 
son's head. The daring archer succeeded under circumstances similar 
to those of TeU, and afterwards took revenge by shooting King Hai-ald, 
A. D. 991, while crossing a dense forest in Sealand. Saxo wrote in 1204, 
and Tell appeared in Helvetia 1307 — a century later; botli events may 
be true. The Danish story is the subject of CEhlensehteger's magnifi- 
cent tragedy of Palnatoke. 

"° The spirit of the times had exerted their influence even on the 
. Vikings of Jomsborg, which at the period of its final demolition had 
become a celebrated commercial mart, frequented by the different 
traders of the Baltic. Its spacious harbor was filled with the ships of 
every nation in Europe. Danes, Swedes, Saxons, Vendes and Russians 
had their separate quarters for residence and business. Yet the naval 
power of the masked pirates was still too dangerous to Denmark, and 
King Waldemar therefore determined to extirpate this nest of heathen 
freebooters. On the arrival of the formidable armament, the Joms- 
borgera became so terrified that they abandoned their capital in despair. 
Its ramparts and other fortifications were levelled, the greater part of 
its edifices were laid in ashes ; and from this calamity it never recov- 
ered, but gradually sunk into the obscure and inconsiderable town of 
WoUin. 

12 



ous period of Norway is that from the accession of King Magnus 
the Good, the son of St. Olaf, in 1035, to the death of Hakon 
Hakonson and the conquest of Iceland in 1263, — an epoch 
rich in extraordinary events, which are beautifully recorded in 
the Heimskringla of Snorro Sturleson, the Icelandic historian, 
and by his continuators. St. Olaf had in the battle of Stickle- 
stad in 1030 sealed his faith with his blood (223). His son 
Magnus the Good succeeded in the final introduction of Chris- 
tianity, and the Norse soon became as zealous worshippers of 
the true God as they formerly had been of the false. They 
likewise took an enthusiastic part in the crusades, both in 
Spain and Palestine, and their heroical king, Harald Haar- 
draade, as prince or general of the Scandinavian Varanghians 
at Constantinople (226, 262), filled the sagas and songs of his 
time with his renown."' 

Harald the Stern perished in the battle of Stamford- Bridge, 
against Harald Godwinson of England, in 1066. His son, 
Olaf Kyrre (the Pacific), attended to the cultivation and com- 
fort of the wild mountaineers. He introduced chimneys and 
glass-windows ; he established a commercial emporium at 
Bergen, and founded several gtiilds or fraternities of arts and 
trades, which ultimately, ripened into municipal corporations. 
He also promulgated laws to facilitate the emancipation of the 
wretched tralle or serfs, and Q-vGYjfylke or district was obliged 
to set free annually a certain number of bondsmen. 

Yet the irregular election of the Norwegian princes, sup- 
ported by their parties, kindled the most destructive civil wars, 
which stained the soil with blood, and produced a general 
demoralization and ferocity of manners at the close of the 
twelfth and the beginning of the thirteenth centuries, when we 
remark with satisfaction in other countries a more steady pro- 
gress toward the higher civilization and humanity of our 
modern era. The history of the daring and intelligent King 
Sverre, the natural son of King Sigurd II. (1 136-1 155), who, 
at the head of the warrior faction of the Birkebener,^^'' after 
the most astonishing alternations of victory and defeat, was 
raised to the throne (1186-1202), is in the highest degree ex- 
citing and romantic. Sverre, with all his cruelty and craft, is 
well worthy to figure with his illustrious- contemporaries, Fre- 
derik Barbarossa and Waldemar the Great, and had he acted 
upon the larger theatres of France, Germany or England, he 
might have become one of the most renowned monarchs of the 
middle ages. The wild band who with their swords opened his 
path to the throne, consisted of the outcasts of the nation ; but 
by their daring and valor, and the terrible vicissitudes of suf- 
fering and war, they became ennobled, and transformed into a 
body of chivalrous and high-minded warriors, well deserving of 
the love and veneration of the Norwegian nation ; and having 
thus thrown off the ignominy of the robber, their heroical 
deeds were immortalized in the songs of the Skjalds.''* Sverre 
strenuously opposed the encroachments of the Romish Pontiff 
in his supreme power, even at the risk of a general excommuni- 
cation: the prelates possessed extravagant privileges; they coin- 
ed money, and rode surrounded by numerous bodies of men-at- 
arms. The royal council was composed of the chancellor and 
treasurer — both prelates, together with the constable, staller, the 
seneschal, mundskicenk^ who were lay-nobles, and other gran 

"' See the Saga of King Harald Haardi'aade, by Laing, and the 
tragedy of CEhlenschlceger : Vceringeme i Myklegard. 

"^ These fierce warrioi-s were called Birkebener from the hircli hark 
which they, destitute and miserable as they were, swathed ai'ound 
their legs. Their opponents, the Baglers, got their nick-nam.e from 
their heavy clubs, bagle, baculum, 

"^ See the highly interesting King Sverrers Saga, written by Karl 
Jansen, abbot of Thingore monastery in Iceland, who visited Norway 
in 1185, and collected his materials from communications of King 
Sverrer himself 3d Vol. of Jacob Aal's ti'anslation of Suuno Sturle- 
son. Christiania, 1839-40.. 



90 



SIXTH PERIOD.— A. D. 973-1096. NORWAY. 



dees of the kingdom. The old national aristocracy of the Jark 
and Hacrsers gradually sank into oblivion, and gave place to 
the feudal titles of dukes, barons, and knights. The Norwegian 
kings and their liirdmcend in complete armor, " glittering like 
ice " attempted to imitate the chivalrous manners of southern 
Europe • the officials in their various ranks obtained fiefs with 
military tenure, but without any hereditary rights. The stout 
Norse yeomanry, the Odds- Bonder (223), maintained their 
entire independence long after it had been lost by their breth- 
ren in Denmark, and they, together with the clergy and chiefs, 
took part in all the political transactions of the national chiefs. 
Every man who possessed six marcs and a bear-skin cloak was 
required to appear in arms at the military gatherings; the 
booty was equitably divided, and the king himself received only 
his portion, according to his skill and bravery. 

297. Divisions and Remarkable Cities. — Norway had 
become divided into four larger provinces, each of which pos- 
sessed its own laws and jurisdictions. I. Trondhjem, in the 
north with its Frostathing. II. Bergen, on the western 
coast, with its Gidathing. III. Viken, on the east, with its 
own Vikenske- Lov : and, IV. Agde, south, with its Handsiva- 
Lov. From these codes Magnus Lagaboeter (Law-mender) 
compiled a general body of civil and criminal jurisprudence 
for the entire realm in 1274 — the Hirdskraa. A Law-Thing 
was annually held at Bergen and the other chief cities of the 
kingdom, at which the appointed number of jurors were sum- 
moned to attend. Trial by battle and other appeals " to the 
judgment of God," had already been abolished. The succes- 
sion had become hereditary, and many useful regulations for 
the maritime defence were re-established. The proud Arch- 
bishop of Nidaros (223) I'uled the church with ecclesiastic 
despotism. Scientific cultivation was still very circumscribed 
in Norway, even among the clergy. One of the few literary 
monuments of this period is the King's Mirror — Kongespei- 
let — written with excellent spirit, luminous reasoning, and 
a noble aim, by King Sverre himself, to combat the encroach- 
ments of the hierarchy. Trondhjem, Bergen and Tonsberg 
were the most thriving commercial cities of Norway, and the 
great emporiums of its export of salt fish for southern Europe. 
The active trade was entirely in the hands of the German con- 
federative Republic of the Hanseatic towns, which enjoyed the 
most extensive privileges, exemption from customs and tolls, 
and kept the whole kingdom, during the fourteenth century, un- 
der the most tyrannical mercantile subjection, by their power- 
ful fleets and fortified factories in Bergen and other cities on 
the coast. Eidskog and the Sevo mountains, on the frontiers 
of Sweden, Gaidaros near Trondhjem, the King's Path, the 
valley of Sverre, and the environs of Bergeii and Tonsberg, 
are celebrated scenes of the valor of King Sverre, and his 
hardy and faithful Birkebener. 

298. Iceland, having been inhabited in 874, during the 
reign of Harald the Fairhaired (224), by Norse exiles, formed 
since 928 an independent republic. The whole island was 
divided into wards, each with three meeting places or tribunals, 
a heathen temple and its priests, godar. The turbulent war- 
riors of Norway formed the aristocracy of the island, while the 
Inter emigrants, J&anes, Swedes, and even many Scots and 
Irish, entered into subordinate relations as tenants or serfs to 
the ricli Odels Bonder, here the yeomanry or gentry, who had 
divided the lands on the first discovery. The natural conse- 
quence of such a progressive colonization, under feudal tenure, 
would be frequent contentions and feuds between the old Nor- 
wegian settlers and the new comers. To obviate the dangers 
of a civil war, a chief. Lagman, was named, under whose guid- 
ance the national diet, Althing, assembled every year on the 
Law-rock, Lovfjeldet. Thirteen other provincial tribunals, 
with presidents and jurymen, assembled in the different dis- 



tricts of the island. The introduction of Christianity into 
Norway was a work of the greatest difficulty, for there every 
valley, every rock was dedicated to its spirit or god, and 
idolatry was thus deeply rooted in the localities of the coun- 
try and in the traditions of the people. Not so in Iceland ; 
the emigrants had left Odin and Trigga behind them on the 
fells of Norway, and they did not recognize the voice of Thor 
in the thunders of Hecla. Irish and Scottish missionaries 
found, therefore, a fertile soil, and Christianity was unani-. 
mously received as the Althing in a. d. 1000, though the 
violent priest Thaugbrand, whom Olaf Tryggveson had sent 
the yea.r before, by his cruelty and arrogance had been forced 
to flee for his life, and return to Norway. This happy state 
of liberty, though occasionally interrupted by civil feuds, of 
which the life of the great Icelandic historian, Snorro Sturle- 
son, gives us a highly remarkable instance, continued in Iceland 
for nearly four hundred years. During this period not only 
commerce, flshery and colonization in Greenland and Viinland 
(America), but general education, literature, and the refine- 
ments of poetical fancy flourished among the active and spirited 
Icelanders, and nearly all the most beautiful sagas, or tales, 
and epics of the middle ages, were penned and sung by the 
Icelanders, before their decline in the fourteenth century. 
After the murder of Snorro in 1242, the civil war flashed up 
fiercer than ever, when, in 1262, Hakon IV. with his Nor- 
wegian fleet forced the wrangling Icelanders to swear allegiance 
to the Norse kings ; yet it was not until the island had been 
laid waste by a dreadful eruption of Mount Hecla, in the year 
1300, that the rough republicans submitted to do homage to 
Hakon VII. of Norway, as their feudal sovereign. Their 
ancient institutions, however, remained untouched ; their cele- 
brated Law-book, the graygoose — graa-gaasen — was still in 
use, but the muse of history fled southward to Spain and Italy, 
and seldom returned for a short visit among the volcanoes of 
Iceland. 

299. Division and Settlements. — Iceland was by nature 
herself divided into four wards or jjordungar, separated by 
snow-capped mountains and deep friths. I. Austfirdinga or 
East-friths ; II. Sunnlendinga, or Ranga (Southland) ; III. 
NoRDLENDiNGA, Or Eijofjord (Northland) ; and, IV. Vest- 
FiRDiNGA, or Brddfjord, the deeply indented and more thickly 
inhabited coast on the west. In the southern ward lay 
TliingveHir, where the general assembly — Althing — was held 
until the year 1800, when it was abolished by the king of 
Denmark."^ Holuni, in the north, and Skalholt in the south, 
were Episcopal sees. Reikiavik, Bessestadir, Melastadir, 
and Stiklesholm, were emporia and commercial towns on the 
western coast. Hram, in the westward, where the great 
historian Snorro Sturleson was born in 1178. Rcikjaholt^ 
the castle of Snorro, ia a beautiful region at a short distance 
from Mount Hecla. Here he was assassinated by his dissat- 
isfied relatives on the 22d Sept. 1241. In the neighborhood 
are still seen the hot baths of Snorro — Snorralaug — cut out 
in the living rock, an interesting monument of his taste and 
wealth, and of the skilful workmanship of those times. 

300. During this period the kings of Norway possessed 
Greenland, the F^roeer, the Orkneys, the Shetland islands, 
the Hebrides, the island of Man and Anglesea. Greenland, 
like the other tributary possessions, belonged to the Royal 
domains, and foreign traffic was prohibited ; thus the naviga- 
tion between Norway and the other northern nations deci-eased 
gradually, until it at last stopped entirely, in the year 1481, 
when the last Norsemen, who were acquainted with the navi- 
gation to Greenland, were assassinated in Bergen by foreign 

'" The Althing has been restored by King Frederick VII. in 1848, 
when Denmark became a constitutional kingdom. 



SIXTH PERIOD.— A. D. 973-1096. SWEDEN— RUSSIA. 



91 



merehants."" The Hebi'ides and the island of Man were, 
by Kiug Magnus Lagaboeter, ceded to Scotland in 1266, for 
t!ie sum of four thousaud marcs sterling. The Orkneys and 
Shet'.a..d islands were mortgaged to Scotland by King Chris- 
tian I. for the dower of his daughter Margaret, who married 
King James III. Stuart, in 1468. 

VII. Kingdom of Sweden. 

301. Extent and Conquests in Finnland. — Sweden, still 
divided between the two races of Goflus and Sviars, or Swedes, 
was the most insignificant of the Scandinavian nations, and 
exerted no influence on the politics of Europe. " The Swedes," 
says the celebrated Adam, Bishop of Bremen, " are a sober and 
modest people, addicted to no vice except that of having each 
three ivives ; the rich and great have even more, all the chil- 
dren being regarded as legitimate. They are distinguished 
above all the Northmen for their hospitality; and the Christian 
missionaries are received and cherished by them with affection. 
The bishops assist at the popular assemblies, or Thing. The 
Swedes are a numerous people, brave and warlike, abounding 
in cavalry and ships. At home they are all equal, but in 
military expeditions they yield obedience to their king and 
leaders." "« 

The succession of the Folkungar to the throne (1250-1389), 
marks a new period in Swedish history (22.5). King Walde- 
mar I. Birgerson, was an energetic ruler, who did much to 
secure the prosperity of his country. He built and fortified 
Stockholm, the capital ; he gave new privileges to the Swedish 
cities, and revised the Lands Las, or the code containina; the 
old statutes of the kingdom. No change had taken place in 
the internal division of the Swedish provinces. More inter- 
esting aj-e the crusades of Saint Eric against the Finns and 
Quains. He carried Swedish colonies across the Bothnian 
Gulf, and flourishing settlements soon arose on the western 
and southern shores of Finnland in 1 156-1293. Tavaste-Hus, 
on the lakes in the interior, was built by Jarl Birger, in 1249, 
and the eastern regions, Kyrialand (Karelia), were occupied. 
The Kyriales possessed all the countries on the north of the 
lakes Ladoga and Onega, from the Finnic Gulf to the White Sea. 
The Finns were a simple and rude people who seldom cultiva- 
ted their fields, and subsisted by hunting, fishing, and rearing 
cattle. The heads of families exercised a despotic authority, 
and the women were treated as slaves. They had some me- 
chanical arts; among others, that of working metals; and the 
most ancient mines in Scandinavia were discovered by the 
Finns. Their mythology was wild and fanciful. Finnland was 
believed to be the country of giants, gnome-like spirits, and 
supernatural beings that haunted the deserts, murmured in the 
waterfall, raged in the tempest, and allured the traveller and 
the hunter by a thousand fantastic forms. Magic was con- 
nected with the worship and manners of the people, and cun- 
ningly fostered by the deceitful priests and wizards. Music, 
too, was a powerful instrument in the old superstition. The 
divine minstrel, seized by the power of his magic, fell into 
ecstasies, and his audience partook of his raptures. The 
Finnic language is the most sonorous, and best adapted for 
poetry, of any in Europe. It has affinity with the Hungarian. 
The three leading tribes were the Quains, in the north, border- 
ing on Lapland ; the Ymes (Jemes), in the lake district of 
Finnland Proper ; and the Kyriales, in the east. The old 
Finnlanders offered an obstinate resistance to the crusading 

^" See the Ancient Geography of the Arctic Lands of America, 
from the writings of the Northmen, by Prof. Charles Chr. Rafn. Co- 
penhagen, 1845. 

"= Adam Bremensis. De Situ Danise. cap. CCVIII-CCXX. and 
CCXXIX. 



Swedes, and the war lasted from 1 156 to 1293. The inhabit- 
ants in after times still retained the grave, intrepid, and inde- 
pendent character of their forefathers. They were capable of 
enduring the severest privations; but their perseverance was 
little removed from obstinacy, and their attachment to their 
national name, customs, and language, rendered them incapa- 
ble of appreciating the blessings of civilization, which the 
Swedes were anxious to difi'use among them. The principal 
Swedish colonies on the coast of Finnland were Korsholm, 
Bjorneborg, Nystad, Aabo, the Episcopal see, Witioig and 
Kexholm on the Lake Ladoga. 

The Swedish nobility had obtained an all-powerful influ- 
ence ; the Scneshal and the Drost divided the place of the Jarl 
of the Realm (225). Chivalrous institutions were introduced 
into Sweden : service on horseback and military tenures with 
exemption from taxes. Every jirovince, Ostgothland, West- 
gothland, Sodermannaland, Westmannaland, Helsingaland, and 
Dalarne, had their particular laws and customs. King Birger 
attempted, in 1295, to introduce the Uplandic Law into all the 
States of the realm. Slavery continued until the 14th cen- 
tury. The centre of Swedish commerce was the flourishing city 
of Wisby, on the western coast of the island of Gothland; 
it was a German colony, and formed at a later time a part of 
the great Hauseatic Confederacy of Maritime Republics.'" 

VIII. Grand Duchy of Russia. 

302. Extent and Divisions in the Eleventh Century. 
— The dominions of Russia (226) were by the victories of the 
Grand-Duke Wladimir the Great (98-1015), extended west- 
ward along the shores of the Baltic into LitJmavia and Po- 
land ; southward along the shores of the Euxine, so as to in- 
clude part of the Crimea and of the Bulgarian territories, 
whilst on the east they reached to the Oka, the Don, and the 
Volga. Wladimir resided in Kiew ; he encouraged the build- 
ing of new cities, and peopled the waste districts of his im- 
mense empire with prisoners whom he had taken in the wars. 
He not only conducted himself as a sovereign who consulted 
the welfare of his dominions, but displayed many benevolent 
and amiable qualities, that highly endeared him to his sub- 
jects. Yet the establishment of the Greek Church through- 
out the Russian dominions forms the most prominent feature 
in his reign, and gives that truly worthy monarch a juster 
claim to the title of Great than his numerous victories. The 
improvement which Russia owed to this prince was great and 
permanent. With the Christian religion he introduced the 
arts and language of Constantinople, which began to flourish 
in the Russian monasteries. But the ill-judged division of 
his empire among his sons in 1015 caused a series of the most 
bloody civil wars between his successors. Yaroslaf at last 
obtained possession of his father's dominions, but followed 
most indiscreetly his example by a new division of his territo- 
ries among his sons in 1054, which remained standing for 
centuries. Russia embraced then the following six territories : 

I. The Grand Duchy of Kijow (Kiew), with the sovereign 
title, and the beautiful and populous capital of that name on 
the Dnieper (226). The province extended northward, and 
comprised the Duchy or Republic of Novgorod and the princi- 
palities of Pskov and Widtka, and in the south all the terri-. 
tory from the eastern Carpathians to the waterfalls of the 
Dnieper, where it touched the frontier of the wild Polovtzi 
or Kumani. 

II. The Principality of Tchernigov contained the east- 
ern part of Russia from the Dnieper to the Don and the Oka, 
the latter of which separated it from the roving Finnic tribes 

"' See, for important details, Geijer's History of the Swedes, in the 
English translation. Vol. I. 



92 



SIXTH PEKIOD.— A. D. 973-1096. RUSSIA. 



of the Blordivins and Muromens (226.) The southern princi- 
pality of TiaittaralMH, which the Grand-Duke Swartoslav in 
972 had united to the empire, belonged likewise to this prin- 
cipality, but it was lost in 1050, on the advance of the Kuma- 
nic hordes towards the Euxine. 

III. The PnrNciPALiTY- of Perejaslavl extended south- 
ward from the frontiers of Tchernigov, along the Dnieper and 
the Donjetz to the steppes of the Petcheneges (254.) On the 
east it touched the civilized and pacific Kamic Bulgarians^ 
on the Volg-a, and the Kliasma, where the concentrated power 
of Russia later arose on the downfall of Kiew. 

IV. The Principality of Smolensk, on the northwest, be- 
tween Pskov and Tchernigov, was continually exposed to the 
invasions of the Poles. 

V. The Principality of Polotzk, was situated between 
the Duena, Niemen and Dnieper. Its princes obtained the 
sovereignty over the Lethic and Finnic tribes on the shores 
of the Baltic, but in spite of all their exertions they were re- 
pelled by the Prussians ,(227.) That nation, the fiercest of 
all the Sclavonian tribes of the north, maintained their inde- 
pendence until the beginning of the thirteenth century, when 
they yielded to the sword of the Teutonic knights and German 
civilization, in the building of Riga, and other cities on the coast. 

VI. The southern Principality of Wlodomirz, in the 
present Volhynia, extended south toward the upper Vistula 
and the Principality of Halitch (Gallicia). 

303. During the twelfth century, several princes of the 
Russian dynasty formed a powerful state in the southwestern 
parts of the Grand Duchy of Kiew, which, a. d. 1158, became 
almost entirely independent; it was Halitch or Gallida, in 
Malo-Russia, on the northern slope of the Carpathian range, 
the home of Russinians or Ruthenians (Russniaks), whose 
prince Roman vanquished the southern Kumani, and rendered 
them tributary. There were in Russia during this period not 
fewer than seventeen smaller principalities, though they at 
length became absorbed into seven, viz. : those of Kietv, Nov- 
gorod, Smolensk, Wladimir, Tver, Halitch, and Moskou. 
Novgorod and Kiew maintained a certain superiority over the 
others until toward the beginning of the thirteenth century, 
immediately before the Mongol invasion, the northeastern 
principality of Siisdal or Wladimir took the lead with the 
two last mentioned states.' '* 

304. Novgorod, on the banks of the Ilmen-Lake, was the 
glory of Russia during the middle ages, with its strong walls, 
its 250 churches and convents glittering with gilt cupolas, and 
its 300,000 active citizens, who soon threw off the yoke of the 
wrangling Russian princes, and constituted themselves into the 
celebrated republic. Later (after 1240), it entered the confede- 
racy of the Hanseatic cities, and became the great emporium 
of Indian commerce for the north of Europe. At the head of its 
executive government stood the Maire, 2^osadnik, with exten- 
sive power, but changing every year. He had a lieutenant, 
tysaskoi, and a council of senators, boyars, consisting of the 
wealthy patricians. The merchants, storekeepers, mechanics, 
and common people formed the popular assembly, that gathered 
in the large market-place at the deep sound of the clock, the 
witscli.nei-kolokol. All the citizens were splendidly armed, and 
marshalled under the city banners, according to the five quar- 
ters of the town, and the five districts of the territory. The 
grand duke possessed a palace in the city, but his bailifi" or 
count was obliged to show the citizens the most flattering 
politeness, and he had no real power. The city had its own 

"' In the supremacy of these principalities can be traced the divi- 
sion of Russia into Great. Russia (the duchy of Novgorod), Litde Rus- 
sia (South Russia), as far as the Crimea, White Russia (Wladimir), on 
the east, and Red Russia (Halitch), on the southwest. 



laws and courts of justice; the manners were still barbarous — 
revenge for bloodshed, ordeal by fire, awful servitude, and 
burning of witches. Russia had yet no coined money ; com- 
merce was conducted by barter, and skins of squirrels and 
foxes were used instead of silver and copper money. Thou- 
sands of boats were plying on the lake Ilmen, and shipping the 
rich products of the east on the Wolkof River to the Ladoga, 
where the vessels from the Baltic embarked their cargoes. The 
produce of the north, on the contrary, was conducted by 
armed citizens over the low hills to the river beds of the Don, 
Dneister or Volga, and thence through the whole continent to 
the Caspian Sea, the Euxine, and Constantinople. During 
winter thousands of adorned sleighs and sledges were seen sliding 
rapidly over the hard and level surface of boundless snows and 
frozen lakes. Novgorod with its free democratic institutions, 
its active and warlike population, its commercial wealth — then 
the centre of the world's traffic — was the New-York or New 
Orleans of the middle ages, and made good the proverb : 
" Who can resist God and the great Novgorod ?" Such was 
the state of this remarkable city from the 11th to the close of 
the 15th century. Novgorod was the terminus of the pilgrims 
as well as Jerusalem ; it was the rendezvous of the fashionable 
traveller and the covetous trader. Artists and jugglers, Danes 
and Dutch, Portuguese Jews and Chinese mandarins, Tar- 
tars and Moors, were thronging its glittering bazaars, each of 
which belonged to a separate nation — with its national tri- 
bunals, its churches or mosques, its stoi-e-houses and armed 
guardians. Here all the enjoyments of the east and west con- 
centrated — nay, the ideas of the luxury and hospitality of the 
Novgorodian citizens, the splendor of the Russian princes and 
boyars, and the wealth to be earned there, were quite extravagant. 
Art and science, literature and poetry, always follow in the wake 
of liberty and commerce ; ' we may, therefore, readily believe 
the Russian historians, in their descriptions of the magnificent 
buildings of Novgorod and Kiew, built in the Byzantine and 
Gothic style by Greek and German architects, and of the 
church paintings and decorations in Mosaic by Saint Olympius, 
a highly talented monk, a native Russian, Avhose brilliant cre- 
ations are still admired at the present day. Learning, too, had 
been introduced from Constantinople, and found an encourag- 
ing asylum in the numerous monasteries, where Russian friars 
were engaged in copying and adorning those elegant manu- 
scripts of tlie Scriptures and the fathers which remain a testimony 
of their skill and industry. Russian ecclesiastics, in the seclusion 
of the convent or hermitage, devoted themselves to astronomy 
and chemistry; others, returning from their pilgrimages to 
Jerusalem, imparted their knowledge of the East, and the vener- 
able Nestor, from the depth of his cavern at Kiew, collected 
the early traditions of the nation, for his annals of the Russian 
empire ; while many other monks wrote the lives of the saints, 
and the chronicles of their convents, in the native Russian 
dialect."' Moskow, on the Moskwa, a tributary of the Oka, 

"^ The Russians, like all the Sclavonian tribes, delighted in social 
assemblies, in music, dancing and national songs. Some few of their i 
ancient ballads have survived tlie storms of time, and give vis a favorable / 
opinion of the poetical genius of Boian, and other early bards ; hut the 
greater part have perished in the general destruction of cities and con- 
vents during the Mongolian, invasion. Only a single larger poem, of ex- 
quisite beautj', on the deeds and the death of Igor the Brave, has been 
preserved as an interesting monument of the ancient Russian language. 
In 'glowing verses it describes the military expeditions of Igor, the prince 
of the Seversky, against the Polovtzi barbarians; he attacks their camp 
on the banks of the Don, but after a brilliant action, the Russians are 
surrounded by thousands of enemies. "The steppe of Stribog is all 
stained with gore, and strown over with the dying and the dead- Po- 
lovtzi and Russians engage in fierce embrace. On the third aurora 
our banners sink into the dust before the shouting myriads of savage 
foes ; for there is not a drop of blood left to be shed. Bold Igor and 
his generous Russians have perished on the battle-field; they have 



SIXTH PERIOD.— A. D.— 973-1096. KUSSIA— FEANCE. 



93 



was a small summer residence of the princes of Snsdal, when 
Ynry (George) Dolgoruki of Susdal, in 1147, laid the founda- 
tions of a large city, which soon became the capital of the 
grand duchy of Wladimir, and the centre from which the 
Russian czars afterwards extended their conquests. 
"> During the intestine broils which attended the dismember- 
ment of the Russian monarchy, the neighboring nations, 
Polovtzi, Hungarians and Poles, availed themselves of the 
weakness of those small principalities, and the party spirit of 
their chiefs, to take side with the one against the other, or to 
ravage the country, to burn down the cities, and carry off 
thousands of captives into slavery. At last, in 1223, when 
the three sovereigns of Wladimir, Kiew, and Halitch had 
formed a confederacy and driven back the Poles and Magyars; 
when Novgorod was extending her commerce, and consolidating 
her republican institutions, the innumerable swarms of Mongol 
and Tartar horsemen from the upper table lands of central 
Asia, under G-inghis-Chan marched westward, and pouring in 
through the defile of Dervend on the Caspian (96), inundated 
all the lands of the Kuban, and drove the Polovtzi or Kumani 
in the wildest flight against the Russian frontiers. All the 
princes now armed ; but the terrible battle on the banks of the 
Kalka, on the 31st of May, 1224, decided the fate of the Rus- 
sian nation. Batu-Ohan defeated them totally; myriads 
perished in the river ; Kiew, Moskow and other cities were 
laid in ashes, and the greater part of Russia for more than two 
centui-ies and a half — 1224-1487 — remained subjected to the 
degrading yoke of the great Chans of the Mongolian empire. 

305. The Chudish, Lettic and Lithuanian tribes, on the 
eastern and southern shores of the Baltic, were still wild 
heathens and barbarians. The Eisths and the Lives were 
Chudish or Finnic tribes ; they inhabited the present Esthland 
and Livonia (Livland) on the Finnic or Rigaic Gulf, and ex- 
tended eastward to the lake of Peipus and the Dilna. West 
and south of these lived the LotAvani, Letti, Kouri or Korsi 
(Kourshani), in the present Kourland ; the Semgalli, Samo- 
gitians, Syamaiti^ Lithuanians and Prussians, all kindred 
to the Sclavonian nation. These tribes resembled one 
another in their institutions, dialects, arms and manners. 
They had the same sanctuaries, where they met to offer sacri- 
fices to their gods ; at Romove in Natanga (near Konigsberg), 
was the seat of their pontiff and chief judge — the Kriwe \- — dif- 
ferent classes of priests were subordinate to him. Many and 
horrible were their idols ; they had human sacrifices, and con- 
secrated woods, lakes and springs. They lived entirely inde- 
pendent, occupied with cattle-breeding, hunting and fishing : 
their agriculture was insignificant; they fed on meat, and 
drank mares' milk and mead ; their weapons were clubs and 
maces, which they launched with deadly aim at a great dis- 
tance ; they were abhorred by the Germans, and ruthlessly 
put down with the sword, or kept in the most cruel bondage. 
Merchants from Bremen, who were driven on their inhospitable 
coast in 1158, founded the first commercial emporium at Riga, 
and attempted to introduce Christianity among the Lives ; but 
the Pagans burnt the wooden chapels, slaughtered or expelled 
the priests, and it was only the sword of the Danish crusaders 
in Esthland, and that of the knights of Christ, or Sioord- 
hr others, in Livonia, who at last succeeded, after many 
battles, in building castles and converting the natives. The 
Lithuanians, extending from the Meniel to the Dilna, were 
too powerful a nation, and too strongly situated in the interior, 

yielded their last breath for the salvation of their native eountiy. 
holy Russia, remember thy sons ! " — See interestiug details on the man- 
ners and institutions of the ancient Russians in N. M. Karamsin's His- 
tory of the Russian Umpire. French translation. Vols. I. and II., in 
many places. 



to yield to the missionary attempts of the German knights. 
Their native chiefs recognized the supremacy of the Russian 
grand-dukes, but, taking advantage of the partitions and in- 
ternal feuds among the princes of that nation, they soon threw 
off their allegiance, and conquered, in several campaigns, from 
1082-1221, the principality of Polotzk, east of the Diina, New- 
Grodek and all Severia, as far south as the swampy region of 
the Prypec and the Dnieper. This vast territory was divided 
among many chieftains; in 1235, however, the brave Ringold 
united all the small Lithuanian states, and took the title of 
grand prince, veliki-knaz. He maintained himself with bril- 
liant success against Russians and Mongols, defeated the Ger- 
man Knights Sword-bearers (the successors of the Sword-bro- 
thers) in Livonia, and though still a heathen, made himself 
respected by all the Christian nations on his frontiers. 

II. Central Europe between 973 and 1096. 

IX. Kingdom of France. 

306. Condition OF Fr,ance; Domains, Feudal Sovereign- 
ties and Free Communes. — France had, during the eleventh 
century, preserved nearly the same limits which it had at the 
time of the extinction of the Carlovingian Dynasty (229). The 
Royal domains, however, had been enlarged by the accession 
of the most powerful feudatory, Hugh Capet, Duke of France 
(987-996), and by the slow, though prudent and persevering 
efforts of his successors"" in the extension of their household 
power, their domains, and the enlargement of their royal pre- ■ 
rogative. Several feudal territories had been united with the 
crown: 1. the county of Sens (234. XL); 2. the county of 
Yexin (235. XV.) ; and 3. the viscounty of Boiirges (238 
XXVI). King Robert I., gave in 1031 the duchy of Bicr- 
gundy (239. XXVIII.) to his youngest son Robert, who be- 
came the ancestor to the elder dynasty of Burgundy and to 
the kings of Portugal. These acquisitions before the crusades 
were insignificant, while, on the other hand, the number of the 
independent feudal seignories was increased by the erection of 
several baronies into hereditary sovereignties. These were, 
1. The barony of Coucy, in Champagne;'"' 2. The barony 
of MoNTFORT L'Amaury, in the duchy of Isle de France, south- 
west of Paris ; 3. The county of Eu ; 4. The county of Evreux, 
both in Normandy; and 5. The county of Foix (243), in Gas- 
cogne. This important duchy, which had been united to 
Guyenne and the county of Rover gue (243. LI.), was possessed 
by the still more independent Count of Tmtlovse. In general, 
the countries lying between the Loire and the Pyrenees, although 
they recognized nominally the sovereignty of the French mon- 
arch, were in strictness as alien from him as the kingdoms of 
Burgundy and Aries, or the duchy of Lorraine, which held of 
the German Emperor (246, 248). Thus, then, the real sove- 
reign power of the Capetian kings extended only over the Isle 
of France and a part of OrUanais, and yet, small as this dis- 
trict was — in breadth ninety miles from east to west, and in 
length one hundred and twenty miles from north to south — it 
was far from being wholly subject to the crown, for even so 
late as the twelfth century Loui,s-le-Gros was arduously en- 
gaged during the greater part of his reign in reducing to 
obedience the petty counts of Chaumont, and of Clermont, 
the lords of Montlhery , Montfort V Amaury, Coucy, Mont- 

'^° These Capetian monarchs were : Robert I., 996-1031. Henry I., 
1060. Philip I., 1108. Louis-le-Groa (VI.), 1136. Louis-le-Jeune (VII.) 
1180. Under Philip August (1180-1223) the French nation at last stands 
forth in its full development, consolidated into a mighty raonai-ohy. 

'^^ The gigantic towers of the Chateau of Coucy present still some 
of the finest medissval ruins in modern France. They had the proud 
inscription, 

" Nor king, noi- duke, nor prince, nor count am 1, 
I am tlie lord of Coucy." 



94 



SIXTH PERIOD A. D.— 973-1096. FRANCE— GERMANY. 



morcncy, Fuisct, and numerous other barons, who, within the 
precincts of the duchy of France and the royal demesnes — ray, 
in the very environs of Paris, the capital and residence of the 
king, refused all obedience to him !"- In the very heart of 
his domains the Capetian was supported only by the Church 
and by the rising and aspiring bourgeoisie — the cities ; — all the 
rest, both strength and glory, belonged to the proud and wrang- 
ling feudatories. 

307. Enfranchisement of the Communes or Republican 
Cities in France. The oppression of the nobility had become 
insupportable to the poor downtrodden people ; insurrection 
among the peasantry broke out in different places ; yet a few 
mail-clad knights, with their lances in rest, scoured the county, 
rode down and dispersed the disorderly bands of the villains^ 
cut off their hands and feet, and the matter was forgotten. The 
peasantry had too little communication or union in the differ- 
ent provinces, so that all their joxqueries or turbulent risings 
failed during the middle ages ; they were too degraded by 
slavery, and if they had been successful, they would have used 
their victory with brutish wildness and ferocity. It was in 
the populous burghs and towns which had risen round the 
castles, and particularly round the churches, and in the an- 
cient Roman municipal cities, that the ideas of liberty long 
glimmering at last burst forth in the brightest flames (245, 
250, 270). Population had been encouraged in the burghs 
by grants of land from their lay or ecclesiastical lords, who 
were anxious to increase their strength and the number of 
their vassals. The nobles would encourage the industry of 
the townspeople ; they would allure skilful artisans, weavers, 
butchers, smiths, armorers, and concede them some privileges 
to keep them within their territory. Liberty, thus, had its be- 
ginning in the central towns of France — tJie free communes — 
which began by receiving some concessions, and terminated by 
extorting their franchises and immunities sword in hand. The 
greater part of these towns were under the jurisdiction of 
bishops or abbots, who wielded the sword of justice by their 
viscounts. Such were the episcopal cities of JBecmvais, JYoyon, 
Lao?i, and St. Riqider ; in others the counts and the prelates 
divided the authority, and in their reciprocal rivalry sought to 
gain the assistance of the citizens against their antagonists by 
liberal concessions, as was the case in Soissons and Amiens ; 
while in St. Quentin and Abbeville the counts alone exercised an 
absolute power. Le Mans is the earliest of the free communes 
(1070). Cumbrai followed the example in 1076. Louis-le- 
Gros called the citizens to arms in his feud against the dukes 
of Normandy ; they flocked to his feudal army under the ban- 
ners of their respective parishes in 1119, and their demands 
rose with their military success. Church and nobility then 
vied with one another to sell the franchises to the citizens, 
who with hard labor found means to purchase them ; to form 
their consular governments, to fortify their towns, and at once 
to display the activity and development of a high-minded de- 
mocracy.'-' This revolution took place all over the kingdom 
under a thousand different forms, and with more or less dis- 
turbance ; terrible was the struggle of the cities in Flanders 

"° The king of France could not ride from Paris to his city of 
Orleans, being interrupted by the frowning towers of Montlhery. 
When, therefore, the fierce lord of the castle, who had been defeated 
aiul humbled in the ernsade, consented to give his daughter in marriage 
to the king's son, with his castle as her dowrj-, Philip said to his son, 
Louis-le-Gros : "Now, my son, keep heedful watch over this tower, the 
trouble caused me by which, has made my hairs gray with grief, and 
through whose craft and wickedness I have never known peace and 
quiet." "What a picture of the times ! 

"' It has been wrongly said that the crusades were the primitive 
cause of the enfranchisement of the cities, for we distinctly see that 
Le Mann, Cambrai, and others, obtained their charters long before the 
commencement of that movement, though the readiness of the Cru- 



and Belgium, where Bruges, with its thirty thousand armed 
citizens defeated counts and kings on the battle-fleld, and laid 
the solid foundations of the republican and commercial gran- 
deur of the Low Countries in the following centuries. 

308. In the mean time, the rumor spread throughout 
France and Europe that thousands of Christian pilgrims, 
princes, bishops, and abbesses, had been surrounded and ruth- 
lessly slaughtered at Ramla, on the coast of Palestine, by the 
Turkish hordes, and that their sultan, Ortok, had taken pos- 
session of Jerusalem and of the Holy Sepulchre. Peter the 
Hermit then appeared in France ; his eloquence contributed 
powerfully to heighten the general enthusiasm for the sacred 
war, and the masses began to move. At the Council in Cler- 
mont, in November 1095, Pope Urban II. preached the cru- 
sade, and the following spring large bodies of pilgrims, men 
and women, young and old, led on by Peter the Hermit and 
Gaultler — Sans-avoir — Walter the Penniless — crossed the 
Rhine on their march for Constantinople and Syria. In 
August of the same year the unwieldy armies of princes, bar- 
ons, and knights, put themselves slowly in motion. No king, 
however, took part in the first crusade, but many feudatories 
more powerful than the kings. Godfrey of Bouillon, Duke of 
Lower Lorraine, departed at the head of ten thousand knights 
and seventy thousand foot, Lorrainers, Germans, and French, 
taking his route through Germany and Hungary. Another 
large crusading army was commanded by Hugh of Verman- 
dois, the brother of King Philip of France, the wealthy 
Count Stephen of Blois, Robert Curt-Hose,, duke of Nor- 
mandy, and Count Robert of Flanders — all equals, none chief; 
they quarrelled on the road, and did but little honor to the 
crusade. A third army was formed by the enthusiastic French 
of the South, the Aquitanians, Gascons, Auvergnacs, and Pro- 
vencals, under the banner of the old Raymond of St. Gilles, 
Count of Toulouse, who traversed the Albanian Mountains 
under endless hardships and dangers, and met the other cru- 
sading companions at Constantinople in the spring of 1097. 
The Normans of Italy, with Count Bohemond of Tarant, and 
the handsome and noble-minded Tancred at their head, forced 
their way, sword in hand, through Epirus and Macedonia. 
Such was the march of the first crusading armies. 

X. The Romano-Germanic EjirmE. 

309. Extent, Change in the Constitution, Contest v^'ith 
Rome about the Investitures. Great changes had taken 
place in Germany since the times of Otho the Great, in 973. 
Conrad II. obtained possession of the kingdom of Burgundy 
(244), which at that time comprised the beautiful districts of 
the southeast of France, afterwards called Provence, -Bau- 
fhiny, FrancJhc Comte and Lyons, together with Savoy, and 
a portion of Switzerland. Germany was thus placed in con- 
nection with the Mediterranean by means of the important 
seaports of Toulon and Marseilles ; an acquisition of great 
import, which, however, afterwards, in the times of intestine 
disturbances, became neglected, and fell into the power of the 
watchful and grasping kings of France. Nor did Germany take 
better care of her other frontier provinces. The margraviate 
of Schlesivig was ceded to Denmark, and thus the Eider 

saders to sell their estates and rights afterwards, served powerfully' to 
promote the release of the cities. Koi- was King Louis-le-Gros tlie 
founder of them, but rather the reverse; for it was tlie brave citizens 
of the towns who established the king; without them he would not 
liave beaten off the Noimans, and these conquerors of England would 
probably have conquered France too. See, for highly entertaining de- 
tails on the history of the communes of France, the admirable nafra- 
tives of Augustin Thierry, in his Lettres sicr I'histoire de France. Lettres 
XIII-XXV. ; compare Guizot, Michelet, Sismondi, and Henry Leo. 



SIXTH PERIOD.— A. D. 973-1096. GERMAN EMPIRE— POLAND. 



became again, in 1027, the frontier of the two nations (294). 
The Vendes in Skvia (295), on the shores of the Baltic, 
threw oiF their allegiance to the German Empire, and formed 
an independent state ; so did King Boleslav Chrobry, of Po- 
land, who, after the rapid conquest of all Silesia and Bo- 
hemia, at last made peace with the emperor Henry II. at 
Bautzen, in 1018, in which he retained possession of Mora- 
via and Lusatia, and even obliged the emperor to support 
him with German auxiliary troops in his wars against the Rus- 
sians. The Germans fared worse in Italy, because Robert 
Guiscard and his Norman adventurers conquered all lower 
Italy and Sicily, while northern Italy became more and more 
republican, and the papal see attained the height of its power 
on the accession of Pope Gregory VII. 

Conrad II. gave, in 1037, his celebrated constitution of 
the Jiefs, according to which the lower vassals, who followed 
the banner of the empire, obtained the full right of property 
and the hereditary succession of their estates. They thus be- 
came the faithful supporters of the emperor against the dukes, 
whom Conrad sought to brine back to their old condition of 
mere imperial functionaries. He assigned to hie son Henry 
the duchies of Souabia, Bavaria, and Franconia, and, if intel- 
ligent successors had been able to carry through his deep-laid 
plans, Germany would have become what France ultimately be- 
came, an undivided, powerful empire. But the Salic dynasty 
was stayed in its mid-career, partly by the faults of Henry IV., 
and partly by the rapid rising of the papal chair, whose author- 
ity developed itself with astonishing energy under the great 
Pope Gregory VII. The violent contest between these two 
stubborn characters shook the world, strewed Germany and 
Italy with corpses and ruins, and was at last only terminated 
with the concordate of Worms, in 1 122, between Henry V. and 
Pope Calixtus II. ; according to which the emperor consented to 
the free election of bishops and abbots, renouncing the invest- 
iture of the mitre and the cross, or the ecclesiastical investi- 
ture. This was reserved to the pope, who, on his side, gave up 
to the emperor the investiture by the sceptre of the ecclesias- 
tical domains that were subject to feudal tenure. The politi- 
cal unity of Christendom was thus broken for ever. 

310. Cities, Castles, and Historical Places. Ham- 
burg, on the Elbe, was taken and burnt by the Vendes in 
1069, and the archbishop forced to remove his see to Bremen. — 
G-rorie, a fine castle near Gottingen, in Saxony, where Henry II. 
died, in 1024. — Bothfeld, near Blakenburg, in the Hartz. 
Here died (1056) the active and severe Henry III. in the 
flower of his age, amidst the lofty plans he had formed for 
the future organization of Germany. — Kaiserswerth, on the 
Rhine, where his little son, Henry IV., being carried off on 
board a ship by the intriguing Archbishop Hanno, of Cologne, 
threw himself into the river, and was saved with difficulty. — - 
Goslar, in Saxony, the residence of Henry IV., whence he 
commenced building castles in the mountains of the Hartz and 
Thuringia to curb the freeborn spirit of the Saxons. — Hartz- 
hirg the splendid castle of Henry IV., near Goslar, which 
the Saxons stormed and demolished at the beginning of their 
rebellion, in 1073. Henry fled in disguise to the forests, and 
narrowly escaped the pursuit of the enraged nation. — Holien- 
berg, on the river Unstrut, in Thuringia, the battle-field on 
which the Saxons were defeated by Henry IV., and treated 
with heartless cruelty. — Hohenstaicfen, a conical mountain 
near Bnren, on the Rems, in Souabia, on the pinnacle of 
which Frederick of Buren built the splendid castle from which 
the mighty dynasty of the Hohenstaufen had their origin in 
i be twelfth century. — Gera, on the Elster, in Thuringia. In 
the neighborhood occurred the great battle, in which Ru- 
de! phus, of Souabia, the rival emperor, perished by the hand 
of young Godfrey of Bouillon; and the unhappy Henry IV. 



was reinstated on the throne of Germany in 1080. — Wc/fcs- 
holz, a forest near Hofstedt, in Saxony, where Henry V. suf- 
fered a fearful defeat from the Saxons, in 1115. In a chapel, 
erected on the battle-field, the victors placed a statue in full 
armor, with helmet, shield, and mace, whom the peasantry in 
after times called Saint Jodut. 

311. In Italia, the flourishing cities of Lombard^/ and 
Romagna were republics in reality, though they still made a 
show of their allegiance to the German emperors on their de- 
scent into Italy, to take the imperial crown in Rome. They 
defeated Heni-y II. in Pavia ; they drove Henry III. out of 
Rome ; but they took the part of Henry IV. against Pope 
Gregory VII. The pope was, however, powerfully supported 
by the Countess Mathildis, of Tuscany (250). This remark- 
able woman had inherited the immense possessions of her 
father. Margrave Bonifacius, in 1052; she governed her states 
with the spirit of a politician ; she appeared in full armor at 
the head of her vassals, and devoted her whole active life to aid 
in elevating the power of the Church. Slander falsely reported 
her to be in love with Gregory, who took- refuge in her castle 
of Canossa ; but her life was as virtuous as her principles were 
austere. On her death, in 1115, she bequeathed all her states 
to the Church, though many of them were ancient fiefs of the 
empire. Another great controversy therefore arose between the 
pope and emperor, until, after much fighting, the feud at last 
terminated in a division of her lauds, of which the Cliurch 
knew how to secure the better half to herself From this time 
until the appearance of Barbarossa in Italy, in 1 152, the Italian 
cities enjoyed the most perfect liberty; they became wealthy 
and powerful. Their citizens formed battalions under the 
banners of the different wards of the town, with their consuls 
and gonfaloniere at their head. Ravenna, Verona, Padoua, 
Parma, obtained important privileges. Milan, in spite of 
her archbishop, adopted a republican government, and waged 
continual wars with her rivals and neighbors, Lodi, Como and 
Pavia. — Canossa, a strong castle, belonging to Countess Ma- 
thildis, on the Apennine, near Reggio. Here the excommu- 
nicated Henry IV. was invited by the countess to meet with 
the terrible pope. The German king was treated with the 
most inhuman cruelty, being left in the outer court of the cas- 
tle, barefoot, in a hair garment, exposed to cold, hunger, and 
thirst, for three days during Januar}^, 1077. Half dead with 
humiliation and misery, the guilty monarch was at last admit- 
ted into the presence of the proud pontifi", who, however, lost 
the best fruits of his victory by thus outstepping all bounds 
of moderation and christian charity. 

Patrimonium Santi Petri, or the then almost independent 
State of the Church, extended, as indicated on the map by 
the violet color, throughout the greater part of central Italy, 
while the feudal homage rendered to the pope by the Nor- 
man Robert Guiscard, Duke of Apulia, Calabria, and Sicily, 
secured the Church from the south. It embraced the duchy 
of Spoleto, the Mark of AncoJia and Romandiola (Romagna). 
Rome herself had sufi"ered the most .terrible devastation in 
1085. The pope, being besieged by Henry IV. in the castle 
of St. Angelo, called the Normans to his aid. Robert Guis- 
card came with his invincible knights ; the Germans fled ; 
Gregory VII. was delivered ; but the entire southern part of 
the city, lying between the Lateran and the Coliseum, was 
destroyed with fire and sword by the Normans, and it has re- 
mained a desert to the present day. 

XI. Kingdom of Poland. 

312. Extent, Provinces, and Cities. Poland, under its 
warlike king, Boleslav the Great, embraced, in a, d, 1025, the 



96 



SIXTH PERIOD.— A. D. 973-1096. POLAND— HUNGARY. 



following provinces : I. Polonia Propria^ bordering east, 
on the Bug; south, on the Carpathian Mountains; west, 
on the Oder; and north, on the Netze, which separated the 
kingdom from Pomerania. It was subdivided into 1, Mazo- 
via, east of the Vistula ; 2, Ciijavia ; 3, Cuhna ; 4, Cazu- 
bia ; 5, Kustryn ; 6, Barnim ; 7, Licbus ; 8, Duchy of Sile- 
sia ; 9, Skisk ; 10, Cracow; II, Sajidojjiirz ; 12, Sieradz; 
13, Lenczyc ; and the conquered frontier provinces, which a 
few years later were lost, Pomerayiia, Lusatia (Lausitz), 
Milzieni, Moravia, Chrobatia, or North Hungary, as far as 
the Danube, the principality of Halitch and Czerviensk east- 
ward as far as the Bug. — Cracow (Krakou), in a splendid 
and strong position on the upper Vistula, was the capital. 
There the ancient kings were crowned and interred. The 
cathedral is remarkable for its numerous mausoleums. The 
tomb of Saint Stanislaus is erected in the middle of the church, 
where lamps burn by day and night, and masses are continually 
said over his ashes. . The adjacent country is remarkable for 
its picturesque beauty — -Vislica ; Sandomirz. The duchy of 
Silesia was one of the finest provinces of the Polish empire, 
and remained united with it until 1327, when it was ceded to 
John of Bohemia. — Breslau, on the Oder, the ancient capi- 
tal, was burnt by the Mongols in 1241. Leignitz, where they 
defeated Duke Henry of Silesia, and the Polish and German 
chivalry, yet with so great a loss, that they immediately re- 
treated to Hungary. Warsaw, on the Vistula, was still a small 
town. — Fosen — Gnesen, the see of the archbishop — -Kalish. 

313. King Boleslav the Great, Chrobry (250), accom- 
plished the difficult task of uniting into one monarchy the 
different hostile tribes of the Ljdchs. Mazovians, Krakovi- 
ans, Silesians, and Moravians, esteemed and loved him as 
highly as the Poles themselves ; he was as generous as he was 
humane, brave, and just.'-* He organized the brilliant cavalry 
of his feudal army — pospolite ruscenie ; he regulated the 
taxes — poradine — and divided his mighty realm into districts — 
poviaty ziemie — in which populous boroughs — j^^saAa — arose, 
and agriculture, trade and industry, became flourishing. Cas- 
tles — grod — were built along the frontiers, which were guarded 
by the armed peasantry, under the command of the border 
counts. High-roads traversed Poland in all directions. Car- 
avans from the east crossed peaceably the country on their 
route for the great markets — tncssen — of Germany. Tlie chase 
was the great delight of the Poles ; they hunted the elk, buffalo, 
urus, bear, and wild _boar, on horseback, with lance and bow ; 
from the German knights, they adopted the more fashionable 
falconry. Convents and schools were built; and, after a reign 
of extraordinary activity, the great ruler died, crowned with 
glory, in 102-5. His successors, Boleslav II. and III., ex- 
tended their conquests to the island of Riigen, on the Baltic, — 
beyond the Vistula, against the Russians; south into Hungary; 
but the division of Poland, in 1139, among the sons of Boles- 
lav III., caused, in the course of time, a rapid succession of 
civil feuds, the formation of a powerful aristocracy, and the 
oppression of the mass of the people to the degrading state of 
hopeless serfdom. 

XII. Kingdom of Hungary. 

314. Conquests, Constitution, and Divisions. The king- 
dom of the Hungarians, or Magyar-Orszag, or they them- 

'^ Boleslav had the curious custom of inviting tlie noble ci-iminal to 
dinner. Tlie culprit received, however, first, the private admonition of 
the king ; he was then led into an apartment, where he received a terri- 
ble flogging ; from which the penitent was carried into the bath, dressed 
for the court, and admitted to the royal table — all performed in good 
^tyle — and no doubt, the noble sinner sat down there with the best appe- 
cite, nfter such preparative corporeal exercise. 



selves called it, had been definitively constituted toward the 
year 1000 (253).. The Magyar kings of the Arpadian dynasty, 
at the head of their warlike nation, made extensive conquests ; 
their territory embraced not only all Transylvania (Hungaria 
Nigra), Marmarosh, on the north, along the southern base of 
the Carpathian Mountains, and the principalities of Wallachia 
and Halitch beyond them, but they passed the Danube, cap- 
tured Sirmium and Singedunum, or Alba Bidgarice (Bel- 
grade) — on the junction of the Saave and the Danube, the 
ancient bulwark of the Roman Empire (34), in 1079, subdued 
the Croatian Zupanate in 1088, and did not stop until they 
had crossed swords with the Venetians on the Dalmatian coast 
of the Adriatic. Here their light cavalry was beaten back^ 
and all the islands and several cities on the mainland, Zara, 
Trcni, Spalatro, Narenia, and others, remained in the posses- 
sion of Saint Marc. The Hungarian king nevertheless took the 
title of King of Croatia and Dalmatia, under the sovereignty of 
the pa.pal see of Rome. The Catholic clergy exercised a great 
influence, and nearly all the political forms of the Prankish 
constitution were introduced. The king fprmed his council 
of the prelates and nobles ; even deputies from the nation were 
admitted. At the head of the jurisdiction stood the conies 
pcdatinus — -Nddor Ispan — of Hungary. The employments at 
court and in the administration were the same as in Germany. 
Every one of the seventy-two comitatus — Gespannschaften — 
into which Hungary had been divided, was governed by a 
comes par ochianus, who held the judicial and military com- 
mand of the district, and was chosen by the king. The na- 
tive population consisted of, 1, bondsmen, who could be sold; 

2, serfs, or adscrijoti glebce, who were bound to the soil; 

3, common freemen ; the latter were divided into tens and 
hundreds, and obeyed their officers, called decani and ccnte- 
narii. The nobility of the nation consisted of, I, the vassals, 
who obtained feudal estates from the royal domains, and ren- 
dered service at court and in the army ; 2, the barons, the 
majority of the Magyars, who had conquered the country, and 
among whom the districts had been divided at the time of the 
occupation. The barons still preserved their division into 
Asiatic tribes or clans. Each family or branch possessed ter- 
ritories, descending by inheritance among its members. All 
these noble estates were entirely free of taxes or tributes. 
The diets were held on horseback, in the plain of Rakos (253), 
where a royal herald proclaimed the resolutions taken. The 
heathen population, even the Magyars who refused baptism, 
and criminals, lost their personal liberty and were treated as 
slaves ; those Sclavonians who received baptism, were placed 
under the protection of the Church as conditionarii. The 
laws for the security of property were austere. King Ladislav 
gave, in 1078, the most severe laws to protect the cattle on 
the open pasture-lands between the Theiss and the Danube, 
which were exposed to the forays of the proud and rapacious 
Magyar nobles. Neither rank, nor wealth, nor family influ- 
ence, could save the robber-baron from the axe or the gallows. 
The Latin language had been introduced together with the 
Christian religion ; soon the court and the tribunals spoke that 
tongue, and the Magyar dialect was thus stopped in its devel- 
opment, and banished among the lower classes. Civilization 
made very slow progress in Hungary, and the breeding of cat- 
tle and horses remained for centuries the principal occupation 
of the Magyars. At the time of the crusades, we find Hun- 
gary a well organized kingdom, under the small and misshapen, 
but high-minded King Kalmany (Coloman), who offered the 
first crusaders a free passage through Hungary. Yet the dis- 
orderly bands of Peter the Hermit burnt Semlin on -the Da- 
nube, and their rear-guard, under the priest Gottshalk, was 
therefore surrounded and cut to pieces by the Hungarians. 
With Godfrey and the Princes, Kalmany had an interview at 



SIXTH PEKIOD.— A. D. 973-1096. RUMANIA— SPAIN. 



97 



Tollenburg, ou the Leitha, the frontier river, where a treaty 
was sigued for the passage of the army. King Andreas II., 
with a large Hungarian army, passed into the East in 1217, 
and landed at Acre, but returned without having assisted the 
crusaders, or gained glory for himself. 

XIII. The Uzi and Kumani. 

315. Theik, Territoey, Conquests, and Manners. — To- 
ward the middle of the eleventh century, appear suddenly the 
numerous hordes of the Uzi and Kumani, on the steppes west 
of the Volga. They were wild barbarians, of Tartaric blood, 
and made themselves feared by their neighbors, the Russians, 
who called them Polovtzi}°° They pressed hard upon the 
Petcheneges, whom they subdued and mixed up with ; and they 
settled as far westward as the river Aluta. Uniting their dif- 
ferent hordes, they crossed the Danube in 106.5, and began a 
desolating invasion into the Greek empire ; yet they were soon 
compelled to return by pestilence and hunger. Their wars 
with the Russians continued without interruption on the bor- 
der, which lay north of the waterfalls of the Dnieper. Alexius 
Komnenus sent them splendid presents, but it tended only to 
make them more desirous of plundering the beautiful countries 
from which they came. Anna Komnena, in her Alexiad, de- 
scribes the despair of her father, attacked at the same time by 
the Normans, on the western coasts of Epirus, by the Seldjukian 
Turks in Asia Minor, and by the Uzi and Kumani in Thrace, 
where they besieged Adrianople, and spread devastation to the 
gates of Constantinople. Nor did they stop at the Carpathian 
Mountains ; they entered Transylvania, but were at last sur- 
rounded and defeated by King Ladislav, in 1089 — who per- 
mitted part of them to colonize the Jazygian plains, between 
the Theiss and the Danube — the later province of Kumania. 
Thus, this terrible nation extended from the Caspian Sea and 
Mount Caucasus, along the shores of the Euxine to the mouth 
of the Danube ; and the whole of Southern Russia is in the 
annals of the eleventh and twelfth centuries called Kumania. 
On the approach of the Mongols from the defiles of Dervend, 
in 1222, the Kumani got frightened ; they fell back on the 
'^Volga, and demanded aid from the grand dukes of Kiew, 
Wadimir, and Halitch. The Russian princes were suspicious 
of treachery, but when they learned the reality of the danger, 
they came on in full force to the support of their old enemies. 
Yet the bloody day on the river Kalka, in May, 1224, decided 
the fate both of the Kumani and of the Russians. All bowed 
beneath the yoke of the Mongols — the Kumani were never to 
rise again ; only the tribes in Hungary survived, and their de- 
scendants still inhabit the plains of Great and Little Kuma- 
nia. Both the Uzi and the Kumani resembled in ugliness, 
squalidness, and bestiality, the Petcheneges, to whom they 
no doubt were related. Their language was spoken in Hun- 
gary a century ago ; the last man who understood it died in 
1770; it is said to have contained many Tartaric words. The 
names of the Polovtzian clans, which appear in the Russian 
chronicles, are still found among the Tscherkassians of Mount 
Caucasus, and it is supposed that this powerful people may 
have vanquished the Kumani, and given them their native 
princes as leaders. The Kumani were as perfidious as they 
were loathsome. When concluding treaties with the Russians, 
they used to cut open their veins, and filling a goblet with 
their blood, they mixed it with that of the Russian envoys, and 
drank reciprocally, in order to become of one blood and faith. 

'^* The Hungarians had many wars with the Kumani, and called 
them Chuni; the Germans gave them the name Valands, Waives, or 
Falones, from which is derived the German word Valand, a wild and 
desperate adventurer or swordsman. 

13 



Horses were sacrificed on the sepulchres of their chiefs, whose 
faithful squires stabbed themselves, to die with their masters. 
They remained pagans, though they came in constant relations 
to Constantinople and Kiew ; they were uomades, and lived 
under felt-tents even in Hungary ; they were excellent horse- 
men, and had herds of camels ; they shaved off their hair like 
the Turks, but wore long beards; they were voracious, and ate 
rats and mice. The Europeans considered them as monsters 
in human shape, and many a story was told of their devouring 
human flesh, and carrying pickled children in the saddle-bags 
along with them on their military expeditions. 

III. SOUTHERN EUROPE BETWEEN 973 & 1096. 

XIV. Kingdoms of Leon and Castile. 

316. • Temporary Union and Conquests; Origin of 
Portugal. The fall of the Ommiyad caliphs of Cordova, 
and the dismemberment of their empire into a vast number 
of petty principalities in 1031, afforded an opportunity for 
the neighboi'ing Christian princes, by successive attacks, du- 
ring nearly two centuries, to circumscribe the Arab domin- 
ion in the Spanish peninsula within the narrow limits of the 
kingdom of Grenada. This conquest would even have been 
accomplished in a much shorter time, if the feuds and rivalries 
between the Christians themselves had not retarded the victo- 
rious progress of their arms, and the African dynasties of the 
Almoravides in 1094, and of the Almohades in 1147, had not 
temporarily restored the Saracen power. The country south 
of the Duero, though occupied by the Christians, remained for 
a long time an insecure possession, frequently overrun by the 
Arabs. Thus, Coimbra, Viseu, and Laniego, which had been 
reduced by Alfonso I. and his immediate successors, were re- 
taken by the great Mohammedan general Al-Mauzor, on his 
victorious invasion of G-alicia (255). Alfonso V., of Leon, fell 
before Viseu in 1027 ; but his son-in-law, Fernando I., of Cas- 
tile, who, after the defeat and death of Bermudo III., in the 
battle of Carrion, in 1037, ascended the throne of Leon, re- 
covered both Viseu and Lamego in 1057, and the important 
Coimbra opened its gates to the Christian knights in 1058. 
Leon, Castile, the Asttirias, Galicia, and the county oi Portu- 
Cale (Portugal), remained united during the greater part of 
the eleventh century, under the enterprising monai'chs Ferdi- 
nando L and Alfonso VI.— 1037-1109. After a siege of 
three years, Toledo, the ancient capital of the Visigoths, sur- 
rendered in May, 1085, and Alfonso advanced rapidly on both 
banks of the Tagus, occupying the fortresses of Madrid, Ma- 
qiieda, and Guadalajara ; nay, he approached boldly toward 
the Guadiana, when he was attacked by the innumerable hordes 
of the African Almoravids, under their great general, Yussef- 
Ben-Taxfin — al-naza.r-ed-din — (defender of the faith), in the 
plain of Zalaca, and totally defeated, with the loss of 24,000 
of his bravest warriors, in 1087. This check put a stop to the 
progress of the Castilian king ; and as the western conquests 
were continually exposed to the irruptions of the enthusiastic 
Almoravids, Alfonso conferred the government of Portugal 
from the Mino to the Tagus, and the right of conquering as 
far as the Guadiana on the young hero, Henry of Besangon, a 
Burgundian prince, who, in 1072, had married his daughter 
Teresa, and to whose valor he had been indebted for many of 
his victories. Numbers of Burgundian nobles having joined 
the banner of Count Henry, he beat back the Almoravids, who, 
in 1107, made a desperate attack on Coimbra, and laid the 
foundation of the chivalrous Monarchy of Portugal,^^" be- 

^-° See the interesting investigations about the origin of the Portu- 
guese monarchy, in the modem Portuguese Historian, Ippolito Hero.u- 
iano. Lisbon, 1846. Vol. T. 



98 



SIXTH PERIOD.— A. D. 973-1096. SPAIN. 



fore his death, in 1112. The disgraceful civil war between 
Queen Urraca and her husband Alfonso — el Batallaclor — of 
Aragon, brought desolation and misery over Castile. Her 
son, Alfonso VII., Ramundez of G-alicia, united the kingdoms 
a^ain, 1126-1157, and extended his conquests to La Manclia 
and the Sierra Morena in 1138-1141. The important for- 
tress of Calatrava, on the Guadiana, was taken, and became 
later the seat of the military order of that name. The king 
penetrated even into Andalucia, but died in the village of 
Fres7iada, near the steep pass of Mitradal, in the Sierra Mo- 
rena, on his return from the expedition in 1 157. Leon and 
Castile were now separated for the last time. Fernando II. 
became king of Leon, and Sancho III., of Castile. This un- 
toward division is indicated in our accompanying map : Cas- 
tile, green ; Leon, violet ; and Portugal (already a kingdom 
since 1139), yellow. The final union'of Castile and Leon took 
place in 1230, t\nder Fernando III. el Santo. 

317. Cities and Historical Places. — Leon, on the Ben- 
esga, a fine ancient Roman city, remained the capital until the 
conquest of Toledo, in 1085; and later again, after the divi- 
sion in 1 157. Its cathedral church, which, for the elegance and 
lightness of its Gothic style, is considered the finest in Spain, was 
begun during this period, but not finished until the fourteenth 
century. Burgos, in Castella Vetus, the residence of the 
Castilian counts, became later the capital alternately with 
Toledo, in Castella Nova. Zamoi-a, on the Duero (255), so 
celebrated in the Spanish chronicles and romances, as the scene 
of the siege sustained by Dona Urraca, against her brother, 
Don Sancho, and the feats of the Cid Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar. 
Uclis, in the province of Toledo, where Don Sancho, the son 
of Alfonzo VI., fell in battle against the Almoravids. Alcan- 
tara, on the southern bank of the Tagus, near the frontiers of 
Portugal, the celebrated castle of the knights of the order of 
that name. Two cavaliers of Salamanca, Don Suero and Don 
Gomez, riding along the banks of the Coales, in search of some 
strong position, which they intended to fortify on the border, 
to arrest the forays of the Moors, met with a hermit, who re- 
commended the hermitage of Saint Julian as an excellent site 
for a fortress. Being supported by the Bishop of Salamanca, 
they erected a castle around the hermitage, where they were 
joined by many other nobles and adventurers, all eager to ac- 
quire fame and wealth in this life, and glory in the next. 
Hence the foundation of the order of St. Jiilian of Alcantara, 
which rendered signal service to the king and church. In an 
era of religious enthusiasm, the knights, anxious to imitate the 
Templars in a life of monastical austerity and military disci- 
pline, obtained the rule of Saint Benedict. A third military 
order, instituted somewhat later, in 1 161, was that of Santiago, 
which followed the rule of Saint Augustine. It originated with 
some notorious bandits of Leon, who, touched with contrition 
for their past enormities, resolved to make reparation for them, 
by defending the pilgrims journeying to the sanctuary of San- 
tiago de Compostela (255), whom they themselves formerly so 
often had robbed. King Fernando II. favored this pious fra- 
ternity, who chose the bloody sword of their patron Santiago 
as their professional badge. The three powerful orders of 
Calatrava, Alcantara, and Santiago, carried the crusading spirit 
to its height in Spain, and being richly endowed by the succes- 
sive kings of Leon and Castile, their possessions, like those 
of the Templars and Hospitallers, extended over evei-y part 
of Spain. Life and manners in that country were still simple 
and austere ; they presented a wonderful mixture of heroical 
bravery, religious fanaticism, and romantic love and poetry. 

XV. Kingdom of Aragon and Navarra. 

318. Sancho III., el-Maijor, of Navarra— 1000-1035— 
was the most powerful prince of his ago in Spain (257). Be- 



sides Navarra and Sobrarbe, he held the county of Ara- 
gon, then confined within the narrow limits of the valleys 
north of the Bbro. By the marriage of his son Fernando to 
the heiress of Leon, he extended his influence over the west- 
ern states of the peninsula, while his army conquered the lord- 
ships of Ribagorza, and pressed hard upon the French fron- 
tier line of the Pyrenees. Yet by dividing his dominions, 
in 1033, among his four sons, he impeded the develop- 
ment of his people; and it was not until 1076, that Navarra, 
Aragon, Sobrarbe, Viscaya, Alava, and Rioja, were again 
united under Don Sancho Ramirez (1076-1094), and 
formed into a kingdom, whose capital was Pamplona, or 
Jaca. During the reigns of Don Pedro I. (1094-1104), 
and the brilliant Alfonso I. el Batallador (1104-1134), it 
was transferred to Zaragoza. Aragon acquired in 1065 
the city of i?ar5as^;-o ; in 1083, Grados ; in 1085, Monzon ; 
in 1096, the important Huesca, which opened the fertile 
plain of the Ebro to the Christian arms ; and in 1114. 
the equally considerable Tudela. Zaragoza fell in 1114, 
and the fleeing tribes were, in 1119-1 121, driven from Cala- 
tayud, Daroca, and Cotanda, south of the mountains, toward 
Valencia. Alfonso, the battle-fighter, perished before Fraga, 
in 1 134; and after the short reign of the Monk Ramiro II., the 
warlike and intelligent Raymond Berengar (Berenguer V. 
(IV.), Count of Barcelona, was called to the throne of Aragon 
(257).'-' Thus Catalonia remained, henceforth, united to 
Aragon, and the brilliant and highly instructive history of 
this well-organized and powerful kingdom begins in 1137, and 
continues uninterrupted for three centuries, until the final con- 
solidation of the Spanish monarchy, in 1 479, by the marriage 
of Fernando V. of Aragon and Isabella of Castile. On the 
death of Alfonso el-Batallador, the Navarrese, rejected the 
election of Ramiro the monk in Aragon, declared themselves 
independent, and chose for their king Don Garcias VI. Ra- 
mirez, a scion of their old royal dynasty. Both states re- 
mained henceforth separate. Rioja and Biscaya fell to the 
crown of Castile (257). It was not only the union with the 
county of Barcelona, which strengthened the kingdom of Ara- 
gon ; it obtained likewise the extensive and important posses- 
sions which the Counts of Barcelona had acquired by pur- 
chase, inheritance, or marriage, beyond the Pyrenees, in 
southern France. Count Raymond Berengar I. (II.) cl- Viejo, 
the most distinguished prince and cavalier of his day, had 
bought, in 1 070, from the Countess of Carcassonne, all her rights 
over the viscounties and lordships of Coinininges, Confians, 
and Razez^"^^ on the slope of the mountains, and of B'lincrvc 
(Menerbce), Beziers, Agadez, and Carcassonne, farther north 
on the coast ; and he had victoriously supported his new ac- 
quisitions with the sword against the Counts of Toulouse. The 
lordships of Bezalu and Cerdana, south of the Pyrenees, re- 
verted to Raymond III. (IV.), in 1 11 1-1 117, and in 1112, he 
married Dolce, the only daughter and heiress of Count Gil- 
bert of Provence. This magnificent country, which nominally 
belonged to the German Empire, but, by the neglect of the 
emperors, had become alienated, remained now under the sway 

'■^^ Raymond Berengar IV. was a perfect knight, brave, generous, 
active, and intelligent, like his forefathers. He owed, however, his 
election to the seneschal of Cat-alonia, Guillen de Moncada, who, 
though unjustly exiled, stood forward in the Aragonian Assembly, and 
spoke so warmly in favor of the chivalrous Count of Barcelona, that 
he was elected by acclamation. Yet the prudent Aragonesc, ever 
jealous of their national honor, stipulated that the name of Aragon 
sliould, in the public documents, precede that of Barcelona; that Ray- 
mond should be stj'led, not king, but Prince of Aragon and Count of 
Barcelona, and that his banner, wlien he advanced to battle, should bo 
intrusted to a knight of their own nation. 

"^ See the classical work of Dr. Ernest Alexander Schmidt. Ge- 
schichU Aracfoniens im Mittelalter. Leipzig. 1828, page 10,'^, et seq. 



SIXTH PERIOD.— A. D. 973-1096. SPAIN— NAPLES. 



99 



of the Aragonian kings, until the year 1245, when Beatrix, 
the daughter of the Last Berengar, brought it as a dower to her 
husband Charles of Anjou, the brother of Saint Louis of 
France. Thus strengthened by the rich provinces of south- 
ern France, and the active and warlike jDopulation of Catalonia, 
Aragon, toward the middle of the twelfth century, rose at once 
to a powerful kingdom, and its distinguished monarchs were 
now enabled to turn their full attention to the war against the 
Arabs. Raymond immediately invested the strongly-fortified 
Tortosa, and carried the city at the point of the sword, by the 
fanatic bravery of the Knights Templars ; Almeria surrendered ; 
Lerida and Fraga, on the Ebro, which had withstood all the 
assaults of Alfonso el-Batallador, yielded to Prince Raymond, 
who finally, iu 1 1 53, had the glory to deliver all Catalonia and 
Aragon from the dominion of the Mohammedans. 

319. Constitution AND Cultivation. The old Visigothic 
laws (123) had hitherto governed Catalonia; they were abol- 
ished by Raymond Berengar II., who substituted the usages of 
Catalonia — usatica — and gave a thorough organization to the 
different classes of the nobility and knighthood. Commerce 
was flourishing ; Barcelona and the cities of Provence rose in 
wealth and comfort, while the nobility enriched themselves with 
the spoils of the Moslemin. The Counts of Barcelona were 
celebrated for their love of the fine arts and literature. Pro- 
vence became, under their mild sway, the home of the roman- 
tic poetry of the Troubadours. Those enlightened princes 
surrounded themselves with minstrels, artists, and philoso- 
phers. The taste of the nobles soon spread through all classes ; 
the Provengal knights no longer considered it beneath their 
dignity to express their sentiments in songs, and to extol in 
glowing verses the beauty and virtue of the ladies, whom they 
defended with their swords. Then arose those tribunals of 
love — les cours cfamour — in which the fair ones were the 
judges, and awarded the prize of excellence, whether a suit of 
armor, or a battle-steed, or only a rose from their bosom, no 
less to the inspired troubadour of the gay science, than to the 
chivalrous victor of the tournament. The amiable manners of 
Provence found their way across the Pyrenees, among the 
proud and taciturn Aragonese and quarrelsome Catalonians, 
and imparted a rapid development to their language, and a 
soaring flight to their nascent literature. 

XVI. State of Valencia. 

320. Origin and Extent. This small kingdom or prin- 
cipality, which is supposed to have extended from the Ebro 
along the eastern coast of Spain to Orihuela, was conquered 
from the Moors by the celebrated Roderigo Diaz de Bivar el 
Seid (the Cid), 1094-1099. Having been exiled from Castile 
by King Alfonso, the Cid, with his band of hardy warriors, 
began his forays on the Moorish dynasty of Al-Hud in Zara- 
goza, and the Almerids iu Valencia. He took Alcozer, and 
making that place his stronghold, he gathered around him 
bands of patriots or freebooters, with whom he defeated the 
Arabs in many skirmishes, and penetrating by Tiruel, in 
southern Aragon, he established himself in the strong castle 
called la Pena del Cid, the Rock of the Cid, on the northern 
slope of the mountains of Segura. At Burriana, he met Don 
Pedro I., of Aragon, with whom he concluded an alliance of 
friendship and support ; and learning the murder of Yaliya 
Al-Kadir, qf Valencia, he suddenly marched against that 
populous Moorish city, which he captured after a long siege. 
Thus strengthened and supported by Don Pedro I., and an 
army of thirty thousand Aragonese, el Cid could meet the 
powerful Almoravids hurrying to the rescue of Valencia. 
The great battle took place near Xativa, south of the city, 
where the heroical valor of the Cid and the enthusiasm of his 
Christian warriors, gained the most brilliant victory over the 



myriads of African Moors. The glorious career of the Cid el 
Campeador was closed with the conquest of Murbiher, — Mur- 
viedro, the ancient Saguntum, and the coastland, as far as Ori- 
huela. All attacks of the Arab chiefs were beaten off, and the 
hero held Valencia until his death, in 1099. His conquered 
territory seems to have embraced Castalona, Mi/rbi/ier, 
Xelves, Xativa, Denia, and Xucar. Valencia del Cid, the 
beautiful city in its fertile and highly-cultivated plain — la 
Huerta, or the garden, on the banks of the Guadalaviar, was 
one of the most important possessions of the Arabs in Spain. 
Nor did it long remain in the hands of the Christians. After 
the death of el Cid, it was immediately re-occupied by the Almo- 
ravids ; and after their downfall, by the Almohads, until King 
Jayme of Aragon, at last, after the greatest exertions in 1232- 
1238, expelled the Moors. Great doubts have been raised 
by modern- historians about this early conquest of Valencia, 
and the kingdom of Roderigo Diaz, the Cid, and even about 
the existence of that chivalrous character himself; yet we can, 
with confidence, believe both in the Christian hero and in his 
conquests, though these exercised but little influence on the 
geography of the middle ages, on account of their short du- 
ration.'''' 

XVII. The Norman Duchy of Apulia and Calabria, 
AND the Grand County of Sicily. 

321. Origin, Development, and Extent. We have de- 
scribed the condition of Lower Italy at the beginning of the 
eleventh century (250, 270-72). Naples, Amalfi, and Gaeta, 
were, like Venice, independent maritime republics ; the Lom- 
bard princes of Benevento, Capua, and Salerno, recognized 
nominally the sovereignty of the Byzantine emperors, who still 
possessed the Italian provinces of Apulia and Calabria. Henry 
II. attempted to restore the German influence; in 1021, he 
marched into Lower Italy, drove the Greeks easily back to the 
most extreme points of their possessions, conquered Benevento, 
Salerno, and Naples, and was during the passage every where 
greeted as sovereign. But this was the last expedition of the 
Germans. On their retreat beyond the Alps, the Byzantine 
catapans or governors reoccupied the lost provinces, and began 
to attack the Arab emirs in Sicily, while Saracen pirates de- 
vastated the coasts of Italy. A few years earlier, in 1016, a band 
of forty Norman pilgrims, returning from the Holy Land, had 
offered their services to the Prince Guaimar, of Salerno, and 
had bravely defeated a numerous host of Saracens, who were 
then beleaguering his city. The Normans returned to their 
country ; but when an Italian embassy later arrived in Nor- 
mandy, and made them brilliant offers on the part of the 
Salernian prince, a band of youthful warriors accepted the 
invitation, passed into Italy, and took service in his army. 
Their number soon increased to several thousands; and 
being disgusted with the mercenary warfare at the small 
intriguing court of Salerno, they concluded an alliance with a 
distinguished Greek chief Melo, an exile from Bari, in Apulia, 
whom they assisted in his feud against the Byzantine Em- 
pire."" But the Normans, being attacked by the superior 

'" See the (lo^^bts in Dunham's critical history of Spain. New- 
York, 1852, vol. ii., pages 159, and 272-284; and the historical evi- 
dence in Der Cid nach den Qiiellen, von Johannes von Miiller (1805); 
and the above- cited History of Aragon, by Dr. Ernest A. Schmidt, 
pages 49-55. 

"" A new light has of late been thrown on the early conquests of 
the Normans in Italy, by the discovery of the highly interesting chron 
icle of a contemporary Benedictine monk. Father Aime, from the con- 
vent of Monte Casino, first published by M. Champollion-Figeac in 
Paris, 1835. See our article in Ihe New-York American Review, for 
June, 1848, " On the adventures and conquests of the Normans in Italy, 
during the middle ages, from the Danish of M. Frederick Schiern, profes- 
sor at the University in Copenhagen. 



100 



SIXTH PERIOD A. D.— 973-1096. NAPLES— SICILY. 



forces of the Greek catapan, were defeated with heavy loss ; 
they effected, however, their retreat, and fortifying themselves 
iu Anversa la Normmma, between Naples and Capua, they 
awaited the arrival of fresh bands of their countrymen from 
Normandy. There they were soon joined by William, Hum- 
frey, and Drogo, the sons of Tancred of Hauteville ;"' and 
having surprised the strong city of Melphia, commanding the 
Apulian plain, they, in 1041, began the open war against the 
Greeks. They had now already a firm footing in Italy ; for 
it was not only the most daring valor and persevering forti- 
tude, but the shrewdest calculations, the cunning and eagle-eye 
of a Hannibal or Caesar, which distinguished the Normans above 
all warriors at this period of their glory. In Melphia, they 
were met, in 1047, by Robert and Tancred, and somewhat later 
by the younger brothers, Roger, Malger, and Godfrey, of the 
noble Hauteville family, whose heavy swords soon drove the 
Greeks out of Italy, and extended their dominion over the 
whole of Apulia and Calabria. The victorious Normans then 
divided the territories among themselves, and fortified every 
height and defile with impregnable castles, from whose towers 
the blood-red banner of the North waved in proud defiance 
of Greek emperors and Romish popes. Robert Guiscard,''- 
however, was the soul of that great enterprise ; he was the 
hero of the age, the strongest warrior among the strong, who, 
in his heavy panoply, sprung up from his fallen steed, and 
wielded with equal dexterity his broadsword in his right hand 
and his lance in the left. He carried his arms and his glory 
across the Ionian Sea to Greece, where his fair enemy, Anna 
Comnena, the purple-clad princess and historian, in spite of 
her anger and terror, expressed the admiration with which 
Robert Guiscard inspired her.''' The Normans had become 
the terror of all Italy. Pope Leo IX., with a large army, 
marched against them ; but found himself suddenly surround- 
ed at Civitella. The key-soldiers of Saint Peter were totally 
routed; the pope was taken prisoner, but honorably treated 
by Robert Guiscard, who received the broad and beautiful 
lands of southern Italy as a fief of the Holy See of Rome, and 
became afterwards the staunchest defender of the popes against 
the German emperors. Robert, as Duke of Apulia, then sent 
his younger brother Roger with a chosen body of Norman 
knights across the Straits of Messina, to Sicily, and after the 
most astonishing feats of valor, the two gigantic brothers had, 
in 1091, driven every Saracen from the island, every Greek 

"' The ruins of the castle of Hauteville are still seen in the neigh- 
borhood of Coiitences, in Nonnandy. There lived, in the beginning of 
the eleventh cemury, among the flower of the K"orthmen the brave old 
Baron Tancred, the friend and companion of Duke Richard the Good, 
of Normandy. Having spent many j^ears honorably in the service of 
his liege lord, Tancred returned to his paternal estate, where, with his 
first wife Muriella, he had five sons, William, Brogo, Humfrey, God- 
frey, and Serlon. After her death, he took another wife, Fredesenda, 
who bore him seven sons, Robert Guiscard, Malger, Alfred, William, 
Humbert, Tancred, and Roger, afterwards the celebrated Count of 
Sicily., All the sons of Tancred were distinguished knights. Serlon 
fought under William the Conqueror at Hastings, and Alfred inherited 
the paternal estate. The mother, Fredesenda, with her three daugh- 
ters, after the death of the old baron, joined her heroical sons in 
Italy. 

"" Guiscard, or Wiscard, is the Icelandic viske, the now obsolete 
English wiseacre. Robert was called the cunning count. Cognomen 
Viscardus crat quia calliditatis ; tion Cicero tanta fuit nee versutus 
Ulysses, says William of Apulia, in his chronicle, page 260. 

'" Though Anna Comnena bitterly complains of his cruelty and 
thirst of conquest, yet she owns that he was "an Achilles in combat 
and an Ulysses in cunning ; that he with firmness executed his designs, 
and, above all, aspired to independence and glory:" nay, the image 
of his manly beauty had made such an impression on the imagination 
of the Greek princess, that when celebrating the noble appearance of a 
hero, she calls him handsome like a knight from Normandy." Anna 
Comn. Ed. Bonnaj, i. 50. 



from the mainland, and they then began to prepare their fleets 
for the conquest of the Byzantine Empire.' 

322. Division and Cities. A. The duchy of Apulia and 
Calabe.ia (270-71) embraced the whole southern part of the 
Italian peninsula as far north as Terracina on the west, and 
the river Tronto on the east, which separated it from Marca 
Ancona; it was divided into twelve larger provinces: 1. The 
principality of Capua — Terra Laboris — with the counties of 
Aquinum Fundi., Capua., Sora, and Anversa] or Aversa 
(Atella), called la Normanna, the first stronghold of the 
Northmen, near Capua. 2. Duchy of Naples, with Sorrento, 
Naples, and Amalji. These brilliant republics (270) opened 
their gates to the Norman duke, who treated them well, and let 
them enjoy their commerce and industry ; later, however, when 
they renounced their allegiance to Robert, they were recap- 
tured, and their prosperity destroyed for ever. Salerno was 
the last Lombard city which surrendered to the Normans, in 
1077. It still possessed the celebrated Arabic school for medi- 
cine, physic, and chemistry. Crowds of students, and patients 
of the highest rank, and from every country in the world, vis- 
ited the city. An African Christian, Constantine by name, 
had then returned from Bagdad, and being an oriental scholar, 
he lectured on the practice of the Arabian Avicenna, and the 
improvements of the medical science in the East. Robert 
Guiscard protected the useful institute, and Salerno preserved 
its reputation for Arabian learning and literature during the 
whole period of the Souabian rule in Southern Italy. 3. The 
marquisate of Teate. 4. The county of Bojano, with Venafro, 
San Germano, and the magnificent and wealthy convent of 
Monte Casino. 5. The county of Molissio, northeast from 
Civitella and Ferlorium, where Robert Guiscard, in 1051, de- 
feated and captured Pope Leo IX. 6. The province of Capi- 
tanata with the counties of St. Angeli, on Mount Gargano, 
Ascuhom, Venosa, Lavellum, Canna, Trani, Minerbimi7n, 
Andria, Compsa, on Mount Apennine, and the strong and fine 
city of Melphia (Melfi), the key to the Apulian plain, on the 
Ofanto, which Rainulf, the first Norman leader, took by strat- 
agem in 1041. 7. The principality of Bari, on the Adriatic 
was the last city occupied by the Greeks. In the cathedral 
are seen the sarcophagi of Robert Guiscard and his son Bohe- 
mund, prince of Antioch. 8. The principality of Taranto, 
the inheritance of Bohemund. 9. Province of Basilicata, 
with the counties of Acerenza, Monspilosus, Gravina, Matera, 
Potenza. 10. Province of Frincipato, with Avellum, Acerra, 
and Frequento. 1 1. Val Gratis, in Calabria, with Folycastro, 
Consentia, and Fussanum. 12. Terra Fordana, the south- 
ernmost point of Calabria, opposite to Sicily, with Melitu, 
Reggio, and Squillacc. 

B. Grand County of Sicily. Falermo — el-Khalassa^ 
the favorite city of the Arabs, was stormed and captured by 
Robert and Roger on the 10th of May, 1072. Traina and 
Faterna, at the base of Mount Etna, where Roger, with a few 
hundred Norman knights, victoriously defended himself against 
thousands of Moslemin. Castro- Giovanni (Enna), in the in- 
terior, the battle-field where Ali-Ben-Na'amh and the Arabic 
army was totally routed by the Normans. Abuthur (Butera), 
and Natis (Noto), were the last possessions of the Arabs in 
Sicily, which, however, they kept so late as 1090, when they 
were forced by Roger to re-cross to Africa, after having inhab- 
ited that beautiful island for two hundred and sixty-five years 
— 826-1091. Roger followed up his victories ; he conquered 
the island of Melita (Malta), which then became inseparably 
annexed to the crown of Sicily. His son. King Roger, landed 
in Africa, took Mahadia, the capital of the Zeirids, Tunis, 
Safax, Cajjsia, Bona, the islands of Karlcis and Gerbes, and 
a long tract of the once so celebrated sea-coast of ancient Car- 
thage ; yet, after the first enthusiasm of conquest had passed 



SIXTH PERIOD.— A. D. 973-1096. ITALIAN REPUBLICS— BYZANTIUM. 



101 



away, the Sicilian Normans neglected those transmarine pos- 
sessions, and they were successively evacuated and lost under 
the troubled reign of King William the Bad, in the twelfth 
century. 

XVIII. The Italian Republics. 

323. Their CoiAiMERCiAL Activity and Conquests. Mi- 
lan, Pavia, Lodi, Como, and the other populous and wealthy 
cities of Lombardy, had already begun, in 1056, to constitute 
themselves as independent republics, with their consular gov- 
ernments, city banners, and militia. Pisa and Genoa, long 
i-ivals in commercial enterprise and military prowess, succeeded 
in driving the Saracens from Sardinia, in 1009. They di- 
vided the island between their republics, and governed it by 
judges. The Sardinian judicatures were : 1, Gallura. in the 
northeast ; 2, Turres, northwest ; 3, Arborea, southwest ; and, 
4, Calaris (Cagliari), southeast. But soon dissensions and 
violent feuds breaking out between their feudatories, the Pisans 
gained the upper hand, and expelled the Genoese from the 
greater part of the island ; the latter could only sustain them- 
selves in the southern Cagliari, and in San Bonifazio on the 
island of Corsica. This island the Pisans likewise obtained in 
1092, as a fief of the papal see of Rome. Both these strong 
and flourishing democracies took thenceforth the most active 
and lucrative part in the earlier crusades, until, in the twelfth 
century, their mercantile envy and bitter hatred produced that 
maritime war, which, after the naval battle near Melloria, oif 
the' coast of Leghorn, in 1282, terminated with the destruction 
of the Pisan fleet and commerce, and the downfall of that re- 
public. — Venice had, in the mean time, extended her conquests 
along the Istrian and Dalmatian coasts (272). She occupied 
the strong cities of Zara, Sebeinco, Traib, and Spalatro, to- 
gether with the islands Opsara, Pttgo, Cherso, Grossa, Arbe, 
Brazza, Lissa, Lesina, and Curzola. At home the rivalry 
of the proud families, Morosini and Caloprini, retarded the de- 
velopment of the republic during the greater part of the elev- 
enth centuiy. Venice, fearing the ambitious plans of Robert 
Guiscard against the Byzantine empire, formed alliance with 
Alexius Comnenus, and defeated the Norman fleet ofi" Corfu ; 
thus preparing herself for the important part she was to occupy 
in the crusading expeditions which, in the thirteenth century, 
brought her to the height of her influence and power. 

XIX. The Byzantine Empire. 

324. Frontiers and Extent. At the close of the elev- 
enth century, and immediately before the great crusade, the 
northern frontiers of the Greek Empire were nominally the 
same as at the time of Otho the Great, in 973. They ran 
along the southern banks of the Danube and the Save, west- 
ward, as far as the river TJnna, a tributary of the latter, and 
then south to Mount Scardus and the lake of Scodra, still em- 
bracing the southern part of the Dyrrhachian theme (270). 
Bulgaria and Servia were thus considered as provinces of the 
empire. Subdued by Nicephorus Phocas and John Tzimisces, 
the Bulgarians recognized the sovereignty of the emperors, but 
they attempted repeatedly to break their chains, under their 
intelligent chief, Simeon, until they were totally defeated and 
prostrated by the heavy sword of Basil II., — BovXyapoKTovos. 
or, the Bulgar-slaiigliterer — in 1017-1 8. "■* Yet we learn, 

"* Basil made the immense booty of ten thousand pounds weight of 
gold, or two millions of dollars, at the capture of the Bulgarian capital, 
Achris, on the lake Lychnidus. Having surrounded and cut off the 
Bulgarian army, he inflicted a most atrocious punishment on ih& fifteen 
thousand captives, who had been taken with arms in their hands for 
the defence of their country. Basil ordered them to be deprived of 



from the disastrous passage of Peter the Hermit, and the first 
crusaders, in 1096, that armed Bulgarian bands occupied the 
forest lands — Silva Bulgarorum — from the Danube, along 
the Morava to Natssus and Sternitza^ or Triaditza (now 
Sofia), at the base of Mount Hasmus, where thousands of pil- 
grims perished by the arrows of that fierce people. It was 
only at the latter place that ambassadors of the Emperor 
Alexius Comnenus appeared, who led the perishing crusaders 
safely through the mountain passes toward Adrianople and the 
capital. Servia (Serblia), too, had thrown off the yoke under 
Stephan Boistlaf, in 1040 (196), and expelled the Byzantine 
governors. That spirited people maintained their indepen- 
dence, and extended their kingdom beyond the Morava on the 
east, and to the shores of the Adriatic on the west, with Scodra 
for their capital.''' Epirus began already to be called Albania, 
and Thessaly Blachia. All the Italian provinces had been 
conquered by the Normans in 1072, and though Alexius with 
courage and skill beat off the attacks of Robert Guiscard and 
his son Bohemund, on Epii'us, yet King Roger of Sicily in- 
flicted, in 1146, by the desolation of Greece, a mortal wound 
on the prosperity of the country. When we turn our regard 
to the lately flourishing provinces of Asia Minor, the prospect 
becomes still more gloomy. There, the Seldjukiaft sultan, Alp 
Arslan, had, in 1071, defeated and captured the emperor, Ro- 
manus Diogenes, at Malazkerd, in Armenia, and both Suleiman 
and his son Kilidj Arslan (Lion with the sword) had, during 
the following years, extended the Turkish conquests through- 
out the finest themes of Asia Minor, and fixed their capital at 
Nicfea, almost in sight of Constantinople herself. Of all the 
Asiatic themes, only Chaldia and Paphlagonon, on the Pon- 
tus, parts of Optimaton and Opsikion, and those of Thrake- 
sion, Cypros, and Samos, and the smaller islands, still re- 
mained to the empire on tlifi accession of Alexius Comnenus to 
the throne, in 1081. 

325. His task was a most diflicult one ; the eastern empire 
had become weakened by the incapacity of Constantino, the 
rebellion of Bardas Phokas, the extravagancies of the Em- 
press Zoe and her lover, Michael the Paphlagonian, and the 
internal feuds between the generals Bryennius and Botoniates, 
after the defeat of the Emperor Romanus. All was disorder 
and misery. The monstrous Petcheneges crossed the Danube, 
and swarmed, burning and destroying to the gates of the capital. 
The Normans attacked the unprotected coasts of Greece, while 
the Turkish cavalry swept the plains of Natolia, and planted 
their banners on the battlements of Niceea and Nikomedia. 
It seemed; in 1081, as if the last hour of Byzantium had 
struck. Yet Alexius Comnenus was a prince of extraordi- 
nary talents ; active, prudent, courageous, cunning and inven- 
tive, he found the arms and the intellect even among the un- 
warlike, monkish Greeks of the eleventh century, to repel hia 
perfidious enemies, and restore the integrity of the state. 
Nor can we wonder that the emperor cherished the brightest 
hopes from the armaments of chivalrous Europe, and that he 

sight ; but to one of each hundred a single eye was left, that he might 
conduct his blind company to the presence of their king. Simeon, 
oppressed with grief and horror, fell down dead at the awful spectacle 
The Bulgarians were swept away to the north of Mount Haemus, theii 
old province, where they brooded vengeance until the later terribl* 
outbreak, in 1186. , 

"^ The Servian kral (king) recognized the supremacy of the pope, 
like the Duke of Apulia, and divided his kingdom into fifteen bishop 
rics, which, however, later, returned to the Greek Church. The condi 
tion of the Servians (Raitzi) was rude ; the kral lived like a farm© 
among his cattle; the chase of the bear and the wild boar was his onlj. 
enjoyment; his queen sat with the distafi^; and his subjects, in theii 
plundering propensity, would not spare the flocks and herds of the kra 
himself. 



102 



SIXTtI PERIOD.— A. D. 973-1096. GREEKS— TURKS. 



sent ambassadors and presents to France to hasten the march 
of the crusaders. But how great must have been his disap- 
pointment, on beholding the ragged, emaciated bands of pilgrims 
the companions of Peter the Hermit, and later his doubts and 
anxiety at the sight of the camps of half a million of mail-clad 
semi-barbarians, extending along the unprotected shores of the 
Bosphorus.'^* There, among the proud chieftains, Alexius 
beheld his mortal enemy Bohemund, the Norman, who, as a 
mere boy with his daring chevaliers, had cut his way into the 
heart of the empire, and with the lance on his thigh, had gal- 
loped through the whole length of it, despising the feeble 
attempts of the Greeks to resist his invasion. Nor was there 
any crowned head to control the wild passions of so many in- 
dependent leaders, whose coarse manners and rude accoutre- 
ments excited the disdain of the polished and elegant Byzan- 
tines. The Franks and Greeks were, in conditions of society, 
too dissimilar for them to associate familiarly and friendly 
together. Political order and civil law were, in the opinion 
of the Greeks, the true bonds of society ; the right of the in- 
dividual to redress his own wrongs with his sword, was among 
the Franks the most valuable privilege of existence. The 
authority of the central government, in the well-organized ad- 
ministration of the Byzantine Empire, reduced the greatest 
nobles to the rank of abject slaves in the opinion of the feudal 
barons, while the right of every private knight to decide ques- 
tions of law by an appeal to his sword, was a monstrous absurdity 
in the eyes of the Greeks, and seemed to render society among 
the western nations little better than an assemblage of ban- 
dits. The conduct of the Latin clergy did nothing to pro- 
mote Christian charity. The contempt of the learned eastern 
prelates for the ignorance of their Latin brethren was even 
changed into abhorrence, when they beheld men calling them- 
selves bishops, prancing about the streets of Constantinople 
in coats of mail. The Latin priesthood, on the other hand, 
despised both the pastors and the flocks, when they saw men 
hoping by scholastic phrases to influence the conduct of war- 
riors ; and they condemned the Christianity which suffered its 
priests to submit to the authority of the civil magistrate in 
the servile spirit of the Greek clergy.'" Thus the nations 
could not understand each other. Both accused their rivals 
of falsehood and treachery, and scenes of fearful disorder were 
the consequence. The Greeks attempted to surprise the camp 

'^'* We must not present to ourselves the crusading armies in that 
pomp and glittering array, in which, two centuries later, we meet the 
French, English, and Spanish chivalry on the battle-fields of Crecy, 
Poitiers, or las Navas de Tolosa. "We are yet in the early age of that 
institution ; we have before us the heroes of Homer, in their rude and 
simple grandeur, not the brilliant Athenians at IMarathon, nor Alexan- 
der at the head of his Macedonian phalanx. The early crusaders are not 
yet the plumed and crested cavaliers, on their barbed and caparisoned 
steeds, cased in gilt or burnished plate armor, as described by Froissard 
and Comines. Godfrey of Bouillon, Tanored, and the other pilgrims of 
rank still wear the clumsy hauberk, or coat of chain-mail, covering the 
head like the monk's cowl, with sleeves, and their mittens, instead of 
gauntlets, and falling down to their knees like a cartman's blouse. The 
liose and pointed shoes of mail, with long iron spurs without rowels, 
and the low, flat steel cap placed over the mail-hood, without a visor 
or beaver, completed the ungraceful costume of the first crusaders. Only 
tlie triangular shield or scutcheon, hanging down over the breast, is 
pninted in brilliant colors, and the emblazoned surcoat, lined with 
ermine-vair, is thrown over the hauberk. The war-horses are yet 
totally defenceless, and we obseiwe with astonishment how they sink 
by tliousands before the arrows of the skirmishing Turks, until the 
Christians afterwards adopted the Saracenic fashion of barbing their 
steeds with a complete cover of horse armoi'. 

Such is the appearance of the 100,000 mounted knights and squires, 
who with 400,000 light-armed foot soldiers, of both sexes, says the 
Archbishop of Tyre, prepare to cross the Straits and conquer the Holy 
]jaud. 

"' See this interesting passage in Colonel Finlay's Media3val Greece 
(page 86), from which we have borrowed it. 



of Godfrey, and were punished by the conflagration' of the 
beautiful suburbs, palaces, and country-seats on the Bos 
phorus. We must not be unjust to Alexius, His position 
was difiicult in the extreme. He sent rich presents to the 
chiefs, and persuaded them by fealty to swear allegiance 
to the empire for the lands they were going to conquer in 
the East.'''* In return, he furnished those disorderly mul- 
titudes with provisions and vessels for their passage into 
Asia; he aided them by the superior skill of the Greek engi- 
neers, dm-ing the siege of Nicsea ; and we cannot wonder that 
he shrewdly planted his imperial banner on the walls to secure 
that important city from desolation, and the Turkish prisoners 
from slaughter. Alexius profited by the great crusade. 
Niccea, Nicomedia, Dorylceon, the greater part of Asia Minor, 
as far as the plains of IkoniusQ and all the coast-lands returned 
once more under the imperial sceptre. By his brilliant vic- 
tory over the Petchenegian hordes, he intimidated both Bul- 
garians and Servians, and the Byzantine eagle banner once more 
floated from the fortresses on the Danube. The discipline of 
the Byzantine armies, which had relaxed during the internal 
feuds, was revived, and a new generation of chiefs and war- 
riors was created, with whom his excellent successors, Calo- 
johannes and Manuel were enabled to protect the empire dur- 
ing still more threatening dangers. In his long reign of 
thirty-seven years, Constantinople enjoyed order and tran- 
quillity ; the strength of the Basilian laws was restored ; arts, 
literature, and science were cultivated, and the emperor in his 
old age enjoyed the happiness of seeing an eloquent and im- 
perishable monument of his reign produced by his lovely 
daughter Anna Comnena. 



IV. THE MOHAMMEDAN WORLD 

IN AVESTERN ASIA AND NORTHERN AFRICA DURING THE 
ELEVENTH CENTURY. 

States of the Seldjukian and Ortokid Turks. 
326. Orighsi, Development, and Conquests of the 
Turks. Wo have visited the Mohammedan dynasties of the 
Ghaznavids, Ghorids, and Khowaresmids, on the banks of 
the Oxus, through Khorasan, on the Indus, and m Hindostan 
(275-76). The scimitar of the Arabs had never entirely sub 
dued the nomadic tribes of the ancient Massageta, or Scy- 
thians,"' who, with their herds of horses and cattle, roamed 
over the extensive plains of Sogdiana, the Maimr-al-Nahr 
of the Arabs (212), between the Oxus and Jaxartes, and 
northeast of the latter river toward the frontiers of China. 
From their chan Oghus, they early took the name of Oghu- 

"" It was in the splendid palace of Blachernce, now a desolate ruin, 
where, in the presence of the glittering court, Godfrey of Bouillon bent 
his knee to the emperor, and was adopted his son. The oath of alle- 
giance was repeated by all the crusading chieftains, except by the old 
Count Raymond of Toulouse, though he afterwards showed himself 
more faithful towards Alexius than the others. See the lively scene in 
Walter Scott's last novel, Count Robert of Paris. 

"9 X. o-raphic picture of the ancient Turkish tribes, and the accurate 
description of the Caspian Sea is given already by Herodotus. "The 
Caspian," says the father of history, " is a separate sea of itself, being 
in length a fifteen days' voyage for a rowing-boat ; and in breadth,, 
where it is widest, an eight days' voyage. On the western shore of this 
sea, stretches the Caucasus, which is in extent the largest, and in height 
the loftiest of all mountains ; it contains within itself many and vari- 
ous nations, who, for the most part, live upon the produce of wild 
fruit-trees. This mountain then bounds the western side of the Cas- 
pian ; and on the east, toward the rising sun, succeeds a plain in extent 
unbounded in the prospect. A great portion of it is inhabited by the 
Massagetw, against whom Cyrus, the Persian King, resolved to make 
war," &c.— Clio. 204—215. 



SIXTH PEEIOD A. D. 973-1096. TURKISH DYNASTIES IN ASIA. 



103 



sioMS ; and when they, in the tenth century, were converted to 
Islam, they called themselves Tttrkmanieh^ Turkmans, or 
faithful (devout) horsemen. Their different tribes had a mili- 
tary organization, and they were divided into the three arrmvs 
of the left iving, and the three breakers of tlie right. The 
three latter tribes were situated on the west, toward the Cas- 
pian Sea, and to them belonged the celebrated Seldjukian 
Turks. They did not from the beginning form a race by that 
name ; they were, on the contrary, young adventurers from all 
the tribes of the right wing, who had gathered around the bold 
and enterprising Emir Seldjuk, and won fame and wealth in 
successful expeditions against the contending Arabian dynas- 
ties south of the river Oxus. Soon, the victorious bands of 
Seldjuk were swelled by thousands of Turkman cavaliers. The 
effeminate Arabs offered the brilliant young warriors pay and 
booty for the service of their arm and bow ; and thus, we at once 
see them form themselves into well-organized squadrons of mer- 
cenaries, who may be compared to the Varanghians of Constan- 
tinople (226, 262), the Catalonians and Almugavars of the 
thirteenth century, and the still more celebrated Italian Con- 
dottieri of the fourteenth and fifteenth. The service of these 
Turkish hirelings, ever ready for fighting, was eagerly sought 
by the' petty dynasties in Khorasan and Zabulistan, in their 
wars the one against the other ; gradually, the Turks became 
so formidable, that the nephew of Seldjuk, Toghrul-Bei was 
proclaimed sultan by his warriors in 1037. Fortune smiled on 
his heiraks}^'^ He overthrew the Ghasnavid dynasty in Kho- 
rasan (275), and extended his conquests throughout Persia, 
from the Oxus to the Tigris. The Abassid Caliph, Abdal- 
lah V. Kaim-Beamrillah, a captive in the hands of his pow- 
erful emirs, the Buids (277), called Toghrul-Bei and his 
Turks to Bagdad, and made him emir-al-omrah, in 1063. 
The new dignity, the impetuous bravery, and excellent tactics 
of the Turkish sultans, made them irresistible. Alp-Arslan 
and his son Malek Shah, Djelal-ed-Din and Djelal-ed-Daula 
(the Grlory of Faith and Power), followed up the victories of 
their great ancestor ; all the lands west of the Euphrates, Ar- 
menia, Syria, and Asia Minor, bowed beneath the sabre of the 
Seldjuks. But, after the death of the great Malek-Shah, in 
1062, the immense empire of the Turks fell to pieces, and 
formed already a number of independent Sultanates on the 
first appearance of the crusaders in Asia in 1097. 

XX. Seldjukian Sultanate of Rum. 

327. Extent and Cities. — The Sultanate of Rum (Rum- 
ili), or leonium, consisted of provinces which were conquered 
from the Romans (Greeks) by Sultan Suleiman, the nephew 
of Malek-Shah, in 1074. It was the most extensive and pow- 
erful of the Seldjukid Sultanates, and embraced the fertile 
lands between Armenia, the upper Euphrates, the Taurus, Ci- 
licia, Cappadocia, Isauria, Phrygia, the southern parts of Pon- 
tus and Paphlagonia, Galatia, Pamphylia, Lycia, with the cities 
of Nicfea and Dorylseum, in Bithynia. Ico7tiicm (Koniah), in 
the open Lycaonian plain, was the early capital of the sultans. 
They soon, however, removed their residence to Nic/Ea, on the 
Askanian lake, which became the scene of the first great event 
of the crusades. That strongly fortified city was closely 
besieged by 500,000 crusaders from May 5th to June 20th, 
1097, when, after the defeat of Sultan Kilidj Arslan before its 
gates, it surrendered to Alexius Comnenus, and became a sec- 
ond time the bulwark of the Asiatic possessions of the Byzan- 
tine empire. Xerigordon, a small town, twelve miles from 

"" The Turkish banner — beirak — consisted formerly of a silver cres- 
cent and a horse-tail — tooghi — fixed on the point of a lance. The pres- 
ent Tui'kish army have purple standards with the lialf moon. 



Nicaja, where the crusading bands of Peter the Hermit and 
Walter the Penniless suffered a dreadful defeat by the Turk- 
ish emir, El-Canes, in 1096. Of twenty-fivo thousand pil- 
grims, only three thousand, with Kuku-Peter escaped to the 
coast of Kibotus, whence they were shipp'ed back to Constanti- 
nople. The Turks afterwards used the bones of the slain to 
fence their vineyards in the environs. DorylcEum — Aopu'Xaioi/ 
— in the beautiful valley of Gorgoni, at the base of Mount 
Dagostenon. in Phi-ygia, on the river Thymbres, a tributary 
of the Sangarios (264), became the battle-field of the greatest 
cavalry combat of modern history. Sultan Kilidj Arslan, of 
Iconium, more provoked than dismayed by the loss of his cap- 
ital Nica3a, had assembled a still larger army, and was hover- 
ing on the flanks of the advancing crusaders ; and when he 
learned that they had separated into two bodies, while crossing 
the hills of Dagostenon, he immediately resolved to strike a 
blow, and advanced rapidly with 150,000 horsemen, without a 
single foot-soldier, on the 1st of July. 1097. It was still in 
the gray of the morning, when the Norman scouts, outside the 
camp of Bohemund, at Dorylseum, were startled by a rocking 
of the ground, like an earthquake ; and soon the trampling, the 
neighing, and clattering of advancing horse, announced the ap- 
proach of the Moslemin. Bohemund immediately ordered all 
the carriages to drive up in square, on the banks of the Thym- 
bres, as a protection for the women and sick pilgrims, while 
Robert Curthose of Normandy, formed on the left wing, Tan- 
cred on the right, and Bohemund himself, with the Italo- 
Norman chivalry, covered the rear. Yet, before these dispo- 
sitions were executed, the Turkish masses already threw 
themselves across the river, and the terrific battle began. The 
Christian knights, in their heavy panoply, and unacquainted 
with eastern warfare, charged full gallop, with couched lances, 
into the midst of the Turkmans, who turned bridle to allure 
them on, while other squadrons advanced to attack them in 
the flanks. Thus, Tancred, having lost his steed, was sur- 
rounded on all sides, and in imminent danger, until Bohemund 
burst forward and saved him ; yet, overpowered by numbers, 
and having lost their horses by the arrows of the infidels, the 
Christians were forced back across the river with severe loss. 
This was the first great struggle of the crusades; here, at 
Dorylaeum, the Christians were taught to change their con- 
tempt for the unwarlike nations of Asia into admiration at the 
higher tactics and the impetuous valor of the Mussulmans. 
Rapidly extending their deeply ranged squadrons in the form 
of an immense semicircle, the Turks instantly outflanked the 
crusaders, and, sending in volley after volley of arrows, they 
brought them down by hundreds. The Normans, in their 
rage, attempted to spur forward, but the Turks wheeled around 
them under continual discharges. The forces of the Chris 
tians became exhausted ; horse and foot mingled in frightful 
disorder, and began to seek refuge among the carriages ; their 
total defeat seemed already at hand, when Godfrey of Bouillon 
and Raymond of Toulouse appeared on the southern hills at 
the head of 50,000 horse. Godfrey, entirely unacquainted 
with the danger of the Normans, had continued his march 
south, toward the Phrygian city of Antioch, when some Nor- 
man knights, spurring after him, announced the danger of 
Bohemund. Godfrey, immediately ordering his infantry to 
encamp, hurried back with the French and German chivalry. 
On his appearance, the Turkish trumpets and kettle-drums 
sounded the retreat, and their wild masses recrossed the river, 
but formed again on the brow of Mount Dagostenon. With 
incredible enthusiasm, the Normans now advanced on the 
right; the fine old Raymond of Toulouse took the centre 
with his Provengals ; Godfrey and his brothers, Baldwin and 
Eustache, the left, with the Germans; and thus closely massed, 
80,000 Christian knights, with waving banners, couched lances. 



104 



SIXTH PERIOD.— A. D. 973-1096. ARMENIA— PERSIA— SYRIA. 



and the cheering shoxit, " God willeth it"—" Dieu le veuV— 
rushed thundering along to the decisive charge. The Turks, 
ou their panting and jaded horses, with empty quivers, still 
resolve to regain the victory with the edge of the scimetar. 
But, at the first onset of the crusaders, they are borne down 
and thrown into irrecoverable confusion; and when, at last, 
the brave Bishop Ademar of Puy, with the rear-guard, by a 
circuitous route, suddenly falls on their flanks, they are sur- 
rounded and totally defeated. The pursuit now became ter- 
rific ; for six miles the Christian sword and lance raged among 
their broken and flying horse ; the Moslemin spurred away for 
their lives, dispersing over the Phrygian plains, and disappear- 
ing, at last, behind the mountains of Angora. Four thousand 
emirs and sheiks, and twenty thousand Turkman troopers, 
covered the field ; their camp, their herds of horses and cam- 
els, and an immense booty, fell into the hands of the victorious 
crusaders. Asia Minor was won at one blow ; the road to 
Syria lay open ; and the Christian sword had humbled the 
pride of the proudest prince of Islam. — Philomelion (Aksher), 
in the Pisidian plain, on the road to Iconium, where the Dan- 
ish prince Swend, with his bride Fiorina of Burgundy, and 
two thousand Danish and Norwegian knights, were surrounded 
by the Turkish sultan of Iconium, and after the most heroical 
defence, cut down to a man, in October, 1097, during the siege 
of Antioch, by the main army of the crusaders."' Tarsus (266), 
on the Cydnus, in Cilicia, a thriving city at that time, mostly 
inhabited by Christians, G-reeks, and Armenians, occupied with 
commerce and agriculture. Here the retainers of Tancred, the 
Norman, and of Baldwin, the haughty brother of Godfrey of 
Bouillon, began an open war about the possession of the city, 
in which many lives were lost, and the dispute not settled 
without some difiiculty. Cilicia formed afterwards a small in- 
dependent Armenian kingdom under its own dynasty of kings, 
who resided in Adana. 



XXI. The Sultanates of the Ortokids. 

328. Besides the Seldjuks, other Turkish hordes had in- 
vaded the Caliphate, among whom the Ortokids were the most 
distinguished. The founder of their dynasties was Ortok-Bei, 
who settled with his band in Armenia, in 1082, when the Seld- 
juks allowed him to occupy Jerusalem. This Turkman tribe 
was more savage than the Seldjuks ; they augmented the op- 
pression of the Christian pilgrims, whom they insulted and 
tortured in the most awful manner, until, at last, the Fatimid 
caliph of Egypt sent an army into Palestine, in 1096, which 
drove the Ortokids out of the city ; they sustained themselves, 
nevertheless, in Mardin, Diarbekir, and in Armenia (Khelat), 
during continual feuds with the crusaders, until they were de- 
feated and extirpated by the Ejubids and the sultans of Ico- 
nium, toward the close of the twelfth, or the beginning of the 
thirteenth century. 



XXII. The Atabeks in Al-Djesirah and Persfa. 

329. Extent and Cities. The Sultanate of Iran (Per- 
sia), the second in power after that of Iconium, and the prin- 
cipal seat of the Seldjukian princes, extended eastward to the 

"' See the beautiful episode in Tasso's "Jerusalem Delivered," in 
which the great poet describes the nocturnal battle, the heroism and 
f;dl of tlie Danes. 

"Sveno del re dei Dani unico iiglio, 
Gloria e soste^^no alia cadente etade 
Esser tra quel bramb ch"l pio eonsiglio 
Seguendo han cinto per Gesu le spade;" etc. 

CanloYlW. Slanze C-4-?. 



Indus and Mount Muztag, on the frontiers of China. Bag- 
dad, on the Tigris, was still the residence of the caliph, who, 
at that time, had lost his political power, and being entirely 
dependent on the Great Sultan, was reduced to the mere per- 
formance of preaching, and other religious functions in the 
mosque. Ispalian soon became the splendid capital of the 
Turks and New Persians, and the seat of their literature and 
choicest architecture. Vishabour, the capital of Khorasan, 
with gorgeous monuments of the Gasnavid princes. The Seld- 
jukid sultans did not learn prudence from the example of the 
caliphs ; they likewise intrusted their slaves or ofiicers, and 
principally their teachers and guardians — the Atabeks, or 
fathers of the princes — with extensive powers, and the govern- 
ment of entire provinces. Thus, several dynasties arose in 
Laristan^ Farsistan, and Irak, which contributed to the total 
dissolution of the Seldjukian empire ; civil war raged through- 
out the country ; the fields were desolated ; famine and mis- 
ery prevailed ; the cities became abandoned by their inhabit- 
ants, who took up arms, or fled to the mountains for protection, 
while the wild beasts roamed through the land in search of 
prey. Djelal-ed-Din Mankberni put an end to this state of 
things in 1225. 

XXIII. Seldjukid Principalities in Syria. 

330. The sons of Ortok-Bei had maintained themselves in 
Syria : Rodwan in Halep, and Dokak in Damascus, about 
1095. Yet a few years later, Emahed-Din, Zenghi (1121- 
1145), the atabek of Mossul, made himself independent, and 
extended his influence by important conquests from the Orto- 
kids and the crusaders. Zenghi was a distinguished man ; he 
showed himself indefatigable in his administration, and the exe- 
cution of the laws ; he bridled the avarice and arrogance of his 
emirs and cadis, to whom he gave an example of moderation him- 
self; he kept the strictest discipline among his troops ; and he 
shrewdly discovered that the religious enthusiasm of the Frank 
crusaders could only be vanquished by his exciting a similar 
fanaticism among the Moslemin. After the conquest of Edessa, 
in 1144, he was stabbed by a domestic slave, and his dynasty 
was then divided into difi'erent lines. The most important arose 
in Halep (Aleppo). There Zenghi was succeeded by the great 
atabek Mohammed Nour-ed-Din (1 145-1 174), whose praise filled 
the East, and still re-echoes in the chronicles of the crusaders. 
Nour-ed-Din was long considered as the beau ideal of oriental 
princes; terrible in his continual wars against the Christians, 
just and humane in the tribunal, moderate and virtuous in his 
habits, and in an eminent degree combining the great qualities of 
the statesman, the general, and the high-priest ; he repelled all 
the attacks of the Christians, captured several of their most re- 
nowned heroes, and laid, by his expedition to Egypt at the re- 
quest of the caliph, Mohammed Moktasi Beamrillah, in Bag- 
dad, the foundation of a large empire, when death suddenly 
called him oif, in 1174."'^ His^ general, Shirkuh, the Kurd, 
and the cousin of Nour-ed-Din, Salah-ed-Din (Saladin), over- 
turned the Fatimid dynasty, and the latter, after the conquest 
of Egypt, dispossessed the sons of Nour-ed-Din, and founded, in 
1181, the powerful Ejubid dynasty, which proved so fatal to 
the Christian kingdom of Jerusalem. The other smaller lines 
of Nour-ed-Din, in Mesopotamia (1 149), remained in obscurity, 
and perished beneath the sword of the Mongols. 

"^ The tyrbc or sepulchre of Kour-ed-Din stands in the great bazaar 
at Damascus. Pilgrinis still flock to his sanctuary, which is surrounded 
by elegant arcades, having a tank in the centre shaded by funeral 
cypresses. The entrance is shut by chains, and as Christians we could 
not obtain permission to visit the interior during our visit to Damascus, 
in 1844. — See the Article "An Excursio7i to Damascus and Bdalhek^' 
in the New- York Review for August and September, 1848, p. 165. 



SEVENTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1096-1300. KINGDOM OF JERUSALEM. 



105 



V. NORTHERN AFRICA AND SOUTHERN SPAIN 
DURING THE ELEVENTH CENTURY. 

331. Principal States. The Arabian dynasties in North- 
ern Africa, who had more or less influence on the crusades, 
can be reduced to three : these states were in their order from 
east to west. 

XXIV. The Caliphate of the Fatimids in Egypt. 

332. At the time when the Christian army advanced upon 
Palestine, Jerusalem was held by Mosta Abulkasem, of Cairo, 
who had, in 1096, expelled the Ortokid princes and defended 
the Holy City against Godfrey of Bouillon and the first cru- 
saders with an army of thirty thousand troops, under the 
command of the brave old Iftikhar-ed-Daulah. The relations 
between the caliphs and the kings of Jerusalem remained alter- 
nately hostile or friendly until the final overthrow of the last 
Fatimid, Ahded-Ledin-Illah, in 1171, by Salah-ed-Din (331). 

XXV. The Kingdom of KAiROUAN or Mahadia. 

333. Moer-Ledin-IUah (213, 280) had left Yusuf-Ben- 
Zeiri as governor in Kairouan, when he marched to Egypt. 
This dignity passed to the descendants of the latter, who did 
not tarry to declare themselves independent of the Fatimid 
court at Cairo. They maintained their position, and foiled 
the languid attacks of the Egyptians ; but when, in 1 070, the 
enterprising Normans expelled their emirs from Sicily and in- 
vaded Africa, the Zeirids were defeated and lost. The last 
chief, Hasan, was dethroned by King Roger I. ; Mahadia, 
Kairouan, and Tripolis, were captured, and the Zeirid posses- 
sions, in the interior of Africa, were soon occupied by the rov- 
ing Berbers and the Almoravids of Morocco. Only a lateral 
line, the Hammadids, in Budja, south of Algiers, were able to 
make a stand for some years longer. 

XXVI. The Empire of the Almoravids in Al-Magreb 
AND Spain. 

334. Their Origin, Progress, and Settlement in Spain. 
— Beyond Mount Atlas, in the deserts of ancient Getulia, dwelt 
several Arabian tribes, who, from their habit of covering their 
faces, were called the Veiled — Molathemin. Among them 
arose a fanatic reformer of Islam, Dshaubar, who preached the 
holy war. The whole tribe became frantic with piety, and 
were called MarahUes, Morabeths (Al-Moravids), or Zealots. 
They chose Abu-Bekr for their Emir-el- Moslemin^ in 1056, 
who, with his followers, crossed Mount Atlas, and conquered 
Moi'oeeo with the sword. His great successor, Yusuf-Ben- 
Taxfin, formed a mighty empire in Magreb-al-Aksa (214), and, 
following the call of the petty kings of Andalos (Spain), who 
had risen on the downfall of the Ommiyad caliphs, he ap- 
peared beyond the Straits of Gibraltar, in 1086, with an irre- 
sistible army of fanatics, and defeated King Alfonso VI. in the 
great battle near Zalaca^ where thousands of corpses covered 
the battle-field, and the Castilian king only escaped destruc- 
tion by the valor of his knights (316). Yusuf is the revered 
hero of the Arab historians, who describe his person and char- 
acter in the most favorable colors. AH the petty princes, the 
Abadids of Sevilla, the Beni-Alaftas, in Badajoz, and the 
others in Cuenza, Xativa, Murcia, Almeria, Denia, Lerida, 
Tortosa, Huesca, and Tuclela yielded to the new Marabut 
devotees. Only the Family Al-Hud, in Zaragoza, maintained 
their seat until 1146. The Almoravids turned their arms 
against the hero of Valencia, but all their furious attacks were 

14 



repelled by Ruy Diaz de Bivar, el Campeador, and only after 
his death, in 1099, did they obtain temporary possession of that 
small kingdom. 'Their sway in Spain lasted only some fifty 
years, and in 1180, they were dispossessed by the brilliant 
Ahnohads — Al-Muahedim — the Arabic Unitarians from ]\Io- 
rocco. The Almoravids were men of capacity ; Spain became 
a flourishing country during their rule. In Europe, they 
soon adopted the chivalrous manners of their antagonists, the 
Christians ; but in Africa they remained nomades, and lived 
like Bedouins. There were many celebrated colleges and 
schools in Africa. The greatest Arabic philosopher, Ibn 
Roshd (Averrhoes, from Cordova, who died in 1198), was the 
first translator of Aristotle, and taught in the high-school at 
Morocco. Poetry was cultivated in Fez, where poetical com- 
bats were instituted, with rewards for the victorious poet. But 
the uncertainty of property by the continual revolutions, re- 
tarded all moral progress ; the manners were sensual and cor- 
rupt, and the mass of the nation were, by their rulers, held in 
a degrading bondage. 

Such was the state of the world at the beginning of the 
crusading wars, toward the close of the eleventh century. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE ORIENT, 

ITS POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY AND ETHNOGRAPHY DURmG 
THE TIMES OF THE CRUSADERS. 

A. Kingdoms and PRiNciPALiTrES founded by the Cru- 
saders between a. d. 1096 and 1291 (1310). 

335. Historical Remarks. — The bloody victory at Do- 
rylasum (328), in 1097, had secured the advance of the great 
crusading army through Asia Minor. After sufi'ering dread- 
fully in the desert plains of Lycaonia, they crossed Mount 
Taurus, and soon encamped in the rich valleys of Cilicia and 
Merash. From thence Baldwin of Boulogne, the brother of 
Godfrey of Bouillon, with a band of knights, undertook the 
conquest of Edessa, beyond the Euphrates, while the main 
body of the Christian army, descending to the banks of the 
Orontes, laid siege to Antioch in October of the same year. 
The strength of this still magnificent city, the valor of its com- 
mander, Baghi-Sejan and his numerous garrison, the want of 
provisions, sickness and misery, prolonged the investment and 
decimated the Christian army in the most fearful manner ; 
many thousands sank into their graves ; and when the sur- 
vivors at last, in July 1098, by a secret understanding with 
Armenian residents, succeeded in capturing the city and tak- 
ing an awful revenge on the Turks, they immediately found 
themselves besieged in their new conquest by the immense 
army of Korboga, the Sultan of Mossul, on the Tigris. Yet, 
despair fired the courage of the Christians, and sallying 
forth in the highest enthusiasm with Godfrey of Bouillon, 
Robert of Flanders, Robert of Normandy, Bohemund, and 
Tancred, at their head, they brilliantly defeated the Turkish 
masses on the 28th of July, 1098, and driving them across 
the Euphrates, made an immense booty, and returned in 
triumph. Thus miraculously securing their conquests of 
Edessa, Antioch, and occupying many castles in Mount Leba- 
non, they prepared for the toilsome march to Jerusalem. The 
prudent and generous Godfrey of Bouillon was the soul of the 
enterprise, and uniting the warring and quarrelling chiefs of 



106 



SEVENTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1096-1300. KINGDOM OF JERUSALEM. 



the different corps of the diminished Christian army, at last 
moved rapidly along the Syrian coast, supported by the Pisan, 
Genoese, and Venetian fleets. Thus then, at length, in May, 
1099, tiie wearied feet of the staunch crusaders, after so many 
privations and dangers, trod the cherished soil of that hal- 
lowed land, and on the 6th of July, they beheld from the 
western range of Mount Ephraim the object of their ardent 
hopes and desires — Jerusalem ! One universal shout of joy 
filled the air, vibrating in undying echoes from hill to hill, 
while tears of rapture burst from every eye. On they moved, 
and their noble leader could scarcely prevent them from rush- 
ing forward at once, in their wild enthusiasm, to storm the 
walls of the holy city. But Godfrey soon perceived that the 
conquest of the city was not so easy, and could not be effected 
by an onset with sword and lance alone — especially as the 
Egyptian garrison (233), was much stronger in numbers than 
the crusaders, of whom, out of 600,000 only 40,000 were now 
encamped before the walls. At length, every preparation being 
made, and battering-engines, wooden towers, and storming- 
ladders provided, in spite of every existing difficulty, by the 
effective support of the Genoese engineers and mariners, the 
first general assault was attempted on the 1 4th of July ; but 
as the besieged defended themselves with dauntless bravery, 
the Christians were driven back with heavy loss. On the fol- 
lowing day, however, the whole army renewed the attack from 
the north and west. The tower of Godfrey approached the 
battlements, the drawbridge was flung down, and that hero 
was himself one of the first who reached the walls of the 
conquered Jerusalem. Tancred, the Norman, scaled the 
northwestern towers at the same time ; the Gate of Saint Ste- 
phen was thrown open, and in rushed the Christian host. The 
Saracens, abandoning the walls, sought now their refuge within 
the sacred enclosure of the Mosque of Omar, on Mount Mo- 
riah — but a dreadful scene of massacre began, and even the 
generous' Tancred was not able to save the prisoners who had 
surrendered to him. Only old Raymond of Toulouse, who 
had early occupied the Tower of David — the ancient Hippi- 
cus — succeeded in securing the life of the Emir Ifhkhar-ed- 
Daulah and some thousands of the most distinguished Egyp- 
tians, who, under French escort, were sent off to Ascalon the 
day after the conquests. Honor to the humane and unpreju- 
diced Frenchman ! Sixty thousand Saracen corpses strewed 
the streets and dwellings of the city, while the triumphant war- 
riors, throwing aside their blood-stained armor, proceeded 
bare-headed and bare-footed to the Holy Sepulchre, where 
Peter the Hermit headed the immense procession, and was 
with rapture received by the monks and Christian inhabitants 
of Jerusalem, to whom he four years before had promised the 
armed deliverance of that sacred spot. Thus the city, whicli 
just before had resounded in every part with the wild shrieks 
of the slaughtered, was now filled with prayers and hymns to 
the honor and glory of God. Godfrey of Bouillon was soon 
afterwards elected king of Jerusalem, and the brilliant battle 
near Ascalon, against 140,000 Egyptians and Moors from the 
Arabian and African coasts, at once secured the Syrian conquest 
to the Christian arms. The greater part of the crusaders, 
however, returned to Europe, and the death of King Godfrey, 
in the midst of his organizations, in August, 1100, was an 
irreparable "loss to the new kingdom, though his able brother, 
Baldwin, Count of Edessa, soon grasped the reins of govern- 
ment with a strong and steady hand. 

336. The principal kingdoms, feudal principalities, and 
settlements Avhich, during the first crusade and in the course 
of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries were formed by the 
Franks in Syria, Cilicia, Greece, on Cyprus, Crete, Rhodes, 
and the islands of the ^geaii, were thirteen in number. I. 
Til'- Kingdom of Jcrusnhm. with its feudal dependencies; 



II. The Principality of Antioch ; III. The County of Tripo- 
lis ; and IV. that of Edessa ; V. The Kingdom of Ai'menia ; 
VI. The Kingdom of Cyprus ; VII. The Latin empire of 
Romania (Constantinople) ; VIII. The Kingdom of Saloni/ci; 
IX. The Duchy of Athens and Bosotia ; X. The Principality 
of the Morea ( Achaia) ; XI. The Conquests of the Venetians ; 
XII. The Duchy of the Archipelago (Naxos) ; and XIII. The 
Military Republic of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem ; 
We shall here give a short description of these ephemeral, but, 
in an historical view, highly interesting states, the materials 
for which were mostly gathered during our residence in the 
East ; and we shall likewise give an account of the most im- 
portant historical monuments of that age, many of which still 
exist."^ 

I. The Kingdom of Jerusalem. 

337. Limits, Feudal Division, Cities and Castles. — The 
suzerainty of the king of Jerusalem, as lord-paramount, was 
recognized by the three great feudatories of Syria, yet these 
princes enjoyed an almost entire independence in their states 
of Edessa, Antioch, and Tripolis. The frontiers of the Latin 
settlements in Syria extended, at the death of King Bald- 
win II., the time of their highest prosperity in 1131, from 
Malatia (Melitene), in Armenia on the north, southward to 
Ailah, on the shores of the Red Sea and the great Arabian 
desert — a distance of five hundred and fifty miles, while the 
breadth west from Tarsus, in Cilicia, eastward to the castle of 
Senerak, near Diarbekr, in Mesopotamia, was three hundred 
and forty miles. Yet more south the frontier did not extend 
farther than the ridge of the Anti-Lebanon, a distance of only 
thirty-five miles from the shores of the Mediterranean. The en- 
tire coast from Tarsus to the borders of Egypt, had been occu- 
pied by the crusaders after the reduction of the maritime cities 
of Laodicea, Tripolis, Tyre, Acre, and Ascalon. In this ardu- 
ous undertaking the pilgrims were powerfully supported by 
the fleets of Venice, Pisa, and Genoa, and even by the.-;' of 
Flemish and Scandinavian crusaders. Yet, so long and narrow 
a strip of land was very difficult to defend, because the Sara- 
cens were still lodged in several impregnable strongholds 
within the frontiers, and the terrible Assassin fanatics (361) 
soon succeeded in fixing themselves permanently on Mount 
Lebanon, and even on the rocky coast of the Mediterranean, 
in the very heart of the Christian territory. Farther in the 
interior, the States of Halep, Mamah, and Damascus re- 
mained in the hands of the Mohammedans, who, at any time, 
might burst forth from their sure retreat on the outskirts of 
the desert, and with their myriads assault any exposed point 
of the weakened Christian kingdom. But most fortunately 
were the many petty dynasties that had sprung up among the 
Seldjukian Turks and their allies after the death of Sultan 
Malek-Shah still fighting against one another, and they thus 
gave the Christians the respite of a few years of comparative 
peace and prosperity. 

338. I. The Kingdom op Jerusalem Proper extended 
from the frontiers of Egypt on the south, northward to the 

'" In our fifth map, which presents the state of the world at the 
time of the crusades, the minium, or red-lead color, indicates the far- 
thest extent of the Seldjukian conquests in Asia Minor, and of tlie sub- 
sequent empire of Salah-ed-Din, the Ejubide. The territories of the 
crusaders, on the contrary, are colored yellow ; but we have not given 
that color to Constantinople, because it was reconquered from the 
Franks by the Greeks (1261), before the close of the crusades. Cyprus 
has its own brown color, forming an independent kingdom. Several 
important places in Syria and Palestine could not be given on the map, 
on account of the narrow space ; the historical student will, however, 
find them all on the maps accompanying Prof, Robinson's Biblical Re- 
searches in Palestine. Vols. IF. and UI. 



SEVENTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1096-1300. KINGDOM OF JERUSALEM. 



107 



Dog-River— iVa/t?--e^-7ire^6— near Beirut, and embraced the prin- 
cipality of Galilee togetiier with a number of viscounties, baro- 
nies, and smaller seigniories, whose feudal owners, when gathered 
under the royal banner of Jerusalem, with their vassals and 
the contingents of the maritime cities, formed an efficient 
army of 10,000 horse and foot. 

The city of Jerusalem — el-Kuds (the Holy), or, Beit 
cl-Mukkadas (the Sanctuary) — was the capital of the new 
Christian kingdom. In its high and strong position, protected 
on the east by the deep valley of Jehoshaphat, on the south by 
that of Ben-Hinnom^ and on the west by the somewhat more 
shallow valley of Gihon, and the castle of David, ^'^'^ it could only 
be attacked with success from the more level approach on the 
north. There, throughout the olive-grove, the Christians had 
pitched their camps of diverse nations, Normans, Lorrainers, 
and G-ermans, who extended all westward round the city to the 
castle of David and Mount Zion, on which Count Raymond of 
Toulouse and his French had raised their towers, and whence 
they directed their attack. Godfrey of Bouillon stormed and 
gained the northeastern corner tower of the city wall, over- 
hanging the valley of Jehoshaphat, and the Christians then 
penetrated by the neighboring gate of Saint Stephen. After 
the conquest, and the establishment of the new kingdom, in 
1099, Jerusalem remained the seat and centre of the Latin 
government, under eight kings, who followed Godfrey of Bouil- 
lon on the throne of that pigmy state, "^ during eighty-eight 
years, until October, 1187, when the city was again wrested 
from the hands of the Christians by Salah-ed-Din, the great 
Sultan of Damascus and Egypt. Five years later, during the 
third crusade of Philip August and Richard Coeur-de-Lion, in 
1192, when Jerusalem was threatened with another siege by 
the victorious king of England, the Sultan made the greatest 
exertions in strengthening its fortifications by massy walls and 
bulwarks, and deep trenches cut out in the living rock on the 
northeast side, where they can still be seen at the present 
day.'" The Lion-Heart, however, did not come ; he returned 
to Europe in 1192, and Salah-ed-Din died shortly afterwards 
in Damascus. The gigantic fortifications of Jerusalem were 
again demolished by Sultan Melek of Damascus, in 1219. 
Yet, the Christians, having unexpectedly obtained the restitu- 
tion of the Holy City and the greater part of Palestine, in 
1228 — not by the prowess of their arms, but by the friendship 

'" The castle of David, which during the middle ages is mentioned 
under the name of the Castle of the Pinans, is the ancient tower of 
Herodes the Great, of Roman construction and great strength. For its 
accurate description, see Prof. E. Hohmson's BiblicalHesearches in Pal- 
estine, Vol. I., pages 453-58. The mediaeval walls and gates of Jerusa- 
lem are described, Vol. I, pages 384-88 and 467-78; the Temple area, 
pages 415-52; and interesting details on the history of the city during 
the age of the crusades, are found in Vol. II., pages 43-62. 

'" The successors of Godfrey were : Baldwin I. of Edessa, his bi-o- 
ther, 1100-1118; Baldwin II., of Burgh, his cousin, 1118-1131; Fidco, 
of Anjou (and Melissenda), 1131-1142; Baldwin III., their son, 1142- 
1162; Amalric {Am&urj), 1162-1173; Baldwin IV., 1173-1183; Bald- 
win v., the Child, 1183-1186; Guy (Guide), of Lusignan, (and Sibylla), 
1186-1192, when the kings, after the loss of Jerusalem in 1187, resided 
in Acre, or in the island of Cyprus. 

"" The Turkish engineers and sappers from Mossoul labored fur 
six months in constructing defences and raising new lines of Avalb. 
Several thousand Christian prisoners of war were forced to toil alono- 
with them. Immense bastions were built on the weaker side of the 
city, toward the gate of Abraham, the present Yafa, or Pilgrims' gate. 
The active sultan rode about, carrying stones on his saddle-bow ; and 
his valiant brother, Malek-Adel, the emirs, the cadis, and even the sofis 
and priests themselve", vied in enthusiasm, handling the spade and the 
pick-axe, in order to encourage the tliousands of Moslemin who hurried 
from the Euphrates to fortify and defend the tliird great Sanctuary of 
their faith. Richard would have had a hard work if he had come on ! 
The Arab geographer, Mejr-ed-Din (by Von Hammer) gives some curi- 
ous details. Fandgruhen des Orients, Wien, 1812, Vol. II. pages 118-142. 



of Sultan Khamil for his gossip the German emperor — they 
joyfully began anew to build up the walls and to strengthen 
the more exposed parts of the city. Frederic II. could not 
consolidate the tottering throne of Jerusalem ; he was sud- 
denly recalled to Europe by the hostile aggression of the Pope ; 
the dissensions between the Teutonic knights, then the guard- 
ians of the Holy Sepulchre, and the Knights Templars and 
Hospitallers, brought all into confusion again ; and thus the 
Saracen Emir, Nassir-Daud of Kerak, succeeded, by a sudden 
attack, in surprising the city. Jerusalem was now, for the 
third time, taken by the Moslems ; the defending knights were 
cut to pieces ; and walls, towers, and monuments levelled to 
the ground. The Christian affairs in Syria were in great 
disorder, when, in 1243, a new and more terrible storm ap- 
proached from the East : the irruption of the Khowaresmians 
(276). The Ejubid sultan, As-Saleh-Nedjmed, of Egypt, him- 
self made a treaty with the Christians and offered them the 
sacred city for the common defence, and as a bulwark for 
Egypt. Monks and knights, merchants and mariners, then 
hurried from Acre to Jerusalem, to fortify it in haste, and 
make a stand — but all in vain — the wild Khowaresmian hordes, 
after their defeat by the Mongols, and maddened to despair, 
had already crossed the Euphrates ; they burst upon Jerusa- 
lem, where, in 1244, Christians and Saracens alike perished 
beneath their swords in a general massacre ; the Holy Sepul- 
chre was sacked and burnt ; and, though those fanatics after- 
wards dispersed and disappeared, Jerusalem has remained ever 
since in the power of the infidels. 

339. The great mosque — Ktiibet-es-Sukhrali, (Dome of 
the Rock) — built by the caliph Omar, in 638, on the site of the 
ancient Jewish temple, was converted by the crusaders into a 
magnificent Christian church in 1099, and richly endowed with 
chapters of canons, territories, and all the immunities of the 
cathedrals in Western Europe. Farther south, on the Temple 
area, stood the large and beautiful Church of Saint Mary, 
erected by the Emperor Justinian I. in the sixth century, 
which by the Saracens had been converted into the highly re- 
vered mosque al-Aksa {i. e., the distant from Mecca). During 
the Christian rule these buildings were occupied by the 
kings of Jerusalem, and called the Royal Palace, or the Temple 
of Solomon. Baldwin II. assigned the part of it lying toward 
the city as a convent for the new order of religious knights, 
who, at that time, by their extraordinary bravery, began to 
excite the admiration of the world. It was from this building 
that these monk-warriors took their name, Fratres militice 
Templi, or Knights Templars. There, on the great platform 
of Mount Moriah, the modest brethren in Christ established 
their convent, their armory, and stables for a thousand horses; 
and from thence they sallied forth to gain not only laurels or 
martyrdom from the infidels, but that political and material 
influence which, in a few years, raised the Knights of the Tem- 
ple to one of the most powerful and wealthy orders in Europe. 
Yet, after their defeat at Kuran el-HaUin, and the surrender 
of Jerusalem in 1 187, the Sultan and his Mamlukes re-entered 
the Saram, or sacred inclosure, with pomp and rejoicings, 
purified the sanctuaries with precious rose-water from Damas- 
cus, raised with triumph the crescent and emblems of the Mo- 
hammedan faith, and destroyed the Christian palaces and con- 
vents so eifectually, that nothing at the present day appears 
on the extensive area of the Temple save the ancient Saracenic 
mosques and chapels with their porticos, tanks, and surround- 
ing orange and cypress groves. This, too, was the fate of nearly 
every church and convent built in the city or in the environs 
by the crusaders — most of them have disappeared without 
leaving a trace to indicate their site. Among the few monu- 
ments partially preserved is the Holy Sepulchre itself, which 
was erected by them in the form of a stately church in thg* 



108 



SEVENTH PEEIOD.— A. D. 1096-1300. KINGDOM OF JERUSALEM. 



Gothic style, inclosing the whole of the sacred precincts of 
Calvary and Golgotha. The fticade fronting the south was 
ornamented with marble pillars, and flanked by high tow- 
ers, which later have been broken off by the Saracens. Inside 
of the portals stood the sepulchres of Godfrey of Bouillon and 
Baldwin I. with their plain inscriptions.'" 

Opposite to the Church of the Resurrection are seen the 
ruins of another important establishment of mediaeval Jerusa- 
lem, Hosjntiitm Sancti lolianni, or the convent of the 
Knights Hospitallers, who, in piety and bravery vied with the 
Templars themselves. Hospitals for sick and disabled pil- 
grims, under the care of devoted monks, had existed in Pales- 
tine and Egypt centuries before the crusades. The merchants 
of Amalfi (270) had established a convent of Benedictines of 
Santa Maria Latina, opposite the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusa- 
lem, to which was, later, joined a nunnery of Mary Magdalen 
and a hospital of St. John, the almoner of Alexandria. There 
sick pilgrims of all nations and creeds were received, and, 
being healed, most liberally dismissed ; and this truly Christian 
establishment had ah-eady acquired so great reputation, that 
Godfrey of Bouillon, after the conquest in 1099, endowed the 
Hospital of Saint John with lands and regular revenues. Yet 
it was not until twelve years after the foundation of the mili- 
tary order of the Templars, that the Monks Hospitallers, 
changing their patron of Alexandria for the Baptist, resolved 
to imitate the example of the Knights of the Bed Cross, and 
to arm in defence of tlie faith. It was the valor, devotion, 
and even the noble emulation of the two military orders (to 
which, dtiring the third crusade was joined a third, that of the 
Teutonic or German Knights of Saint Mary), which mainly con- 
tributed to maintain and extend the Latin conquests in the 
Levant, while they likewise laid the foundation of all the nu- 
merous orders of chivalry in Spain (318), France, England, 
Germany, and Denmark, which sprung up and flourished in a 
subsequent period. The massive buildings of the hospital now 
lie in ruins. The spacious court is occupied by a Moham- 
medan tannery — el-debaghah. From the upper platform the 
pilgrim still looks down into the vaulted refectory, hall, and 
church, of tbe once so powerful Hospitallers. The roof has 
become a kitchen-garden, from which the view over Jerusalem, 
the Haram with its mosques, and the distant Mount of Olives, 
is of surpassing beauty. The Teutonic order possessed like- 
wise a convent in the city called das Deutsche Haus, but no 
trace of it is left. It was principally during the crusade of 
the emperor Frederic II. in 1228 and 1229, that the German 
knights, formerly so disdainfully treated by the other orders, 
obtained some influence in the affairs of Palestine. 

The interior of Jerusalem with its bazaars, vaulted streets, 
tanks, baths, and gloomy, castellated dwellings, had then no 

"' The tombs of the two great crusaders were broken open and 
their ashes dispersed by the Khowaresmians in 1244. 

The inscription on that of Baldwin runs thus : 

Eex BaMuinus, Judas alter Machabasiis, .> 

Spes patrise, vigor ecclesia;, virtus utrlusque, 
Quem formidabant, cui dona et tributa ferebant, 
Cedar et Aegyptus, Dan ac homicida Damascus, 
Pro dolor, in modico hoc olauditui' tumulo ! 

The other Latin inscriptions had ah-eady become illegible toward 
the close of the sixteenth century; they were afterwards daubed over 
with plaster by the Greek monks, in order to conceal every historical 
proof of the pretensions of the Latins. The contest betAveen Greeks 
and Latins about the supremacy of the Holy Sepulchre is still pending, 
and has again become the great political question of the day. In the 
Latin sacristy of the sepulchre the author of this work saw, in 1844, 
the sword and spurs of Godfrey of Bouillon, which are exhibited to 
the travellers and pilgrims by the monks. The heavy broadsword may 
be genuine, but the long, brazen spurs, with rowels, seem to be from a 
later iieriod, perhaps from the fourteenth or fifteenth century. 



doubt the same general appearance as now, and even the streets 
have preserved the same direction."* 

340. The environs of Jerusalem present likewise some me- 
morials of the crusaders. At Bethania, on the eastern slope 
of Mount Olivet, a massy old tower near the sepulchral vault 
of Saint Lazarus seems to have belonged to the convent of 
Black Nuns of Saint Benedict, built a. d. 1 132 by King Fulco 
at the request of his queen, Melissenda, for her sister, the 
princess Iveta, and of which the latter became abbess. At 
el-Bireh, north of Jerusalem, on the road to Nabulus, stand 
the ruins of a fine Latin church that belonged to the Knights 
Templars, At Kolomieh, on the route to Yafa and the sea- 
coast is a well preserved Christian church, now used as a stable 
for the horses of the robber-chief Abu-Gosh, who there ransoms 
the passing pilgrims. Lydda (Diospolis), on the plain of 
Sharon, with the gigantic ruins of the Church of Saint George, 
which was destroyed by Salah-ed-Din, in a. tj. 1191, on the ap- 
proach of King Kichard the Lion-Hearted and the crusading- 
army. On the east of Jerusalem, the tower at Jericho in the 
valley of Jordan, called by the pilgrims the house of ZacchcBUs, 
is a structure of that time, having been erected for the pro- 
tection of the rich fields, palm-groves, and gardens, which were 
iiTigated by the plentiful spring of Elisha — Aiii-es- Sultan — 
near Jericho. The valley of the Jordan, like the environs of 
Tyre and Tripolis, were in the times of the crusaders planted 
with the sugar-cane ; and near the ruins of Jericho are still 
seen extensive aqueducts and porticos with pointed arches, 
supposed to have been sugar-mills of the Saracens. The many 
magnificent convents mentioned by early pilgrims as having 
been situated on the banks of the Jordan, present now nothing 
but ruins and heaps of rubbish. East of Bethlehem lies the 
high, conical hill, called the Mount of the Franks (the ancient 
Herodion), where, according to tradition, the Christian knights 
still defended themselves several years after the loss of Acre, 
and at last succeeded in cutting their way with the sword to 
the coast. 

341. The frontiers being exposed to the continual incur- 
sions of the Saracen light-horse, the crusaders took care to 
erect strong castles at convenient places on the border, which 
were garrisoned by the bravest knights of the two military 
orders ; thus, the southwestern frontier toward Egypt and 
the great desert Bt-Tih, was protected by the castle of Gaza, 
the border-town which was held by the Knights Templars in 
1 152-1 187, when it fell, after the bravest defence. Later, the 
Christians united to the Egyptian Saracens, lost here the great 
battle in 1244 against the Khowaresmian fanatics, which 
caused the prostration of the Frank dominions and the ulti- 
mate loss and desolation of Jerusalem. Gibelin (Beit-Gibrin), 
northeast of the former, the almost impregnable fortress of the 
Knights Hospitallers, was built in 1134 to control the roving 
Mohammedan bands from the still unconquered city of Asca- 
lon. Blanchegarde or Alba Specula (Tell Safieh), northeast of 
Ascalon, was the scene of some of the romantic feats of Rich- 
ard the Lion-Hearted, on his daring excursions in quest of 

"^ The principal street — la me de David — ran then, as it does now, 
from the. tower of David near the Yafa gate, on the west, eastward 
through the lower city to the Temple area. La rue au Patriarche, 
started off northward to the Patriarchate and the Holy Sepulchre ; far 
ther east ran, in the same northern direction, parallel with the former, 
the Rua Palmariorum. (the present Bazaar-street), where palm-branches 
were sold to the returning pilgrims. There were la rue du Sepulchre, 
de Mont Zion, des Herbes, du Temple, de Saint Mienne, la rue couverte 
le Masquimat, la rue aux Alemans, de Jeliosaphat, de I'Arc Judas, and 
others, some of which can still be recognized. The Latin gold and 
silver smiths, the butchers, and every profession, had their own street 
and bazaar. See the mediajval description of the city, cited by Consul 
Sohultz, in his Lecture on Jerusalem, Berlin, 1846, pages 107-120. 



SEVENTH PERIOD A. D. 1096-1300. KINGDOM OP JERUSALEM. 



109 



adventures among the Saracen swarms. Ascalon itself, in a 
strong position on the coast, was one of the most important 
bulwarks Qf the kingdom from the time of its conquest by King 
Baldwin III. in 1153, until its retaking by Malek-Adel in 1 187, 
and its total destruction by Salah-ed-Din in 1191. It was a 
splendid city with immense fortifications and an active and 
happy population, who were ruined by the crusading warfare ; 
and even to this day the ruins and dreary solitude of Ascalon 
present the most mournful* spectacle imagination can conceive. 
It was beneath the walls of Ascalon that Godfrey of Bouillon 
and the twenty thousand heroes of the first crusade, after the 
capture of Jerusalem, defeated with lance and sword the caliph 
of Egypt and his hundreds of thousands of Arabs and Moors, 
on the 12th of August, 1099, and thus secured their glorious 
conquest. 

342. On the east the Arabian border was defended by the 
castle of Allah (202), on the gulf of the Red Sea, by Mons 
Regalis (Schobek), north of Mount Hor and Petra in AVady 
Mousa, and the still stronger Kerak (Krak), on the eastern 
shore of the Dead Sea, commanding the great caravan route 
from Damascus to Mecca in Arabia. The roving expeditions 
of the faithless Reynald, Lord of Kerak, against the Moham- 
medan pilgrims— 7iaf/;'^es — during the truce, in 1186, gave a 
pretext to Salah-ed-Din, to invade Palestine and reconquer 
Jerusalem the following year.''" Yafa (Joppe), on the coast 
west of Jerusalem, surrounded by magnificent orange-gardens, 
was the landing-place and emporium of the crusaders and 
their Italian auxiliaries, the Venetians, Genoese, and Pisans. 
The seigniories of Mirabel and Ibclin, and the castles of 
Blaen, Habakuk, and Plain du Temple^ all situate on hills 
in the plain of Sharon, secured the passage of the thousands 
of pilgrims, male and female, who then continually wandered 
to the Holy Sepulchre or back to the coast. Ar&uf {K\%\xx), 
on the rivulet of that name, north of Yafa, was the battle-field 
on which Richard of England, with the flower of the chivalry 
of England and France, on the 7th September, 1191, in one 
of the most tremendous battles on record, routed and defeated 
his great antagonist, Salah-ed-Din and his Mamlukes. Ajalon^ 
on Mount Ephraim, in the interior, from which Richard mourn- 
fully contemplated the distant Jerusalem, which the talent and 
power of Salah-ed-Din and the treachery of his French auxilia- 
ries did not permit him to approach. It was then that he con- 
cluded the treaty with the Sultan, and returned to Europe in 
1 192. County and city of Neapolis — Napulus, Naplus (the 
ancient Sichem), north of Jerusalem, in a beautiful valley, 
covered with olive plantations and orange gardens, between 
Mounts Garizim and Ebal, was the seat of several councils 
and feudal assemblies of the feudatories during this period. 
Magnificent ruins of the cathedral of Saint Peter are still 
standing. The barony of Caesarea, the seigniories of Baron 
and Chaipha^ at the foot of Mount Carmel, were important 
possessions on the coast. Atlith, or the Castle of the Pil- 
grims, south of Mount Carmel, was the last refuge of the 
Chi'istians in Palestine, from which they in May 1291 departed 
for Cyprus. The viscounty of Ftolemais, Accon, or Saint Jean 
d'Acre, with the beautiful and strong city on the large bay 
north of Mount Carmel, became, during the years 1189-1191 
the grand theatre for all the astounding events of the third 
crusade. After the surrender of the city to Richard it became 
the capital of the kingdom and the emporium of eastern traffic. 
With its triple range of impregnable walls, its deep and broad 
moats, fortified barbicans and drawbridges, its inner and outer 

"' An interesting description of Kerak is found in Lieutenant Lyncb's 
Exploring Expedition on the Dead Sea. The glittering white walls of 
Kerak can be plainly distinguished across the sea from the western 
heights of Bethlehem, at a distance of more than fifty miles. 



harbor secured by battlcmcnted moles and the celebrated Fly- 
toiver, Acre was the last stronghold of Christianity and Euro- 
pean civilization in the East. Stately cathedrals and convents, 
royal palaces, and commercial bazaars, all glittering with the 
luxuries and riches of the Levant, filled the interior. The de- 
voted Knights Templars had on the coast their fortified Teni- 
pie and palace, the Knights of Saint John their magnificent 
Hospital, still to this day. among heaps of ruins, the best pre- 
served building of the city. Every quarter (barrio) was forti- 
fied by ranges of walls ; Venetians, Pisans, Genoese, Lombards, 
French, English, and Germans, possessed their own wards, 
tribunals, and storehouses. The luxury and ostentation of 
the court, chivalry, clergy, and commercial republicans almost 
passed belief. Silken curtains and canopies were on cords 
drawn across the bazaars and streets to protect the grand pre- 
lates, the Venetian merchants, and Frank cavaliers from the 
scorching rays of the sun, while marble fountains, rich gardens, 
and shady groves scented with orange-blossoms and adorned 
with beautiful flowers and shrubbery, were distributed in vari- 
ous parts of the city to compensate the citizens for the delight- 
ful environs of Mount Carmel, which were rendered insecure 
by the continual incursions of the Mamlukes. To preserve 
this important city had become the great jjolitical aim of the 
European nations during the latter half of the thirteenth cen- 
tury. Yet the Mamluke sultans of Egypt, then ruling through- 
out the East, had resolved its destruction, and, in spite of the 
immense exertions of Saint Louis in his Egyptian expedition, 
and all the enthusiasm and devotion of the Orders of the Tem- 
ple and Hospital, Sultan Ashraf Khalil and his myriads car- 
ried the city on the 20th of May, 1291, and by the massacre 
of thousands of Christians and the total destruction of Acre 
put an end to the crusades in the East. 

343. The Principality of Galilee, or of Tiberias, had been 
granted by Godfrey of Bouillon to the faithful and generous 
Tancred, the Norman. That fertile province extended from 
Mount Carmel through the plain of Esdrcelon — Jezrael-^ — east- 
ward to the Jordan and the lake of Genezareth. The access 
from the Jordan was protected by the barony of Beisan 
(Scythopolis) with the large castle of Belvoir — Belvedere — 
(Kaukab), belonging to the Knights Hospitallers, who de- 
fended it for many years with their wonted bravery. Other 
places of strength were the castles of Samir and Gcnin, in 
strong positions in the defiles of the mountains of Samaria. 
Fulah (Faba), Forbelet, Bteria, and the large fortress on the 
summit of Mount Tabor, were all castles of the Knights Tem- 
plars protecting the plain of Esdraglon and the caravan road 
from Jerusalem to Damascus by the bridge of Jacob. Naza- 
reth, the small industrious Christian city in its beautiful val- 
ley, was, on the 1st of May, 1187, an eye-witness to the terri- 
ble combat near the barn-floor of Mahel, where a small body 
of Knights Templars and Hospitallers, led on by their Grand- 
Masters, with heroical fortitude withstood the thousands of 
Mamlukes swarming around them ; they all perished, over- 
whelmed, but not vanquished. This chivalrous battle was only 
the prelude to the still more tragical events which followed. 
Sepplioris (Sefurieh), on a copious spring in the delightful 
valley el-Buttauf, six miles north of Nazareth, where, a month 
later, the whole feudal strength of the kingdom, twelve hundred 
mail-clad knights and fifteen thousand sergeants and archers, 
assembled. But King Guy of Lusignan, and the Grand-Master 
of the Temple, Thierry of Ridderford, disregarding the pru- 
dent advice of Count Raymond of Tiberias, to await the Sul- 
tan in that advantageous position, ordered the march across the 
barren ridge of Tell-Hattin, where, next day, they were sur- 
rounded by the hundred thousands of Salahrcd-Din. The 
battle was fought near Allubiah (Lubieh), between the peaks of 
Hattiu (Kurun-el-Hattiu), two miles west of the city of Tiberias. 



no 



SEVENTH PBEIOD.— A. D. 1096-1300. TRIPOLIS— ANTIOCH. 



There, on the 9th of June, Salah-ed-Din totally destroyed or 
captured the forces of the Christian kingdom. Nearly all the 
knights of the military orders perished either on the battle- 
field or were slaughtered in cold blood before the tent of the Sul- 
tan ; the same fate awaited the perfidious Raynald of Chatillon, 
the lord of Kerak. The captivity of King Guy of Lusignan 
and thousands of his feudatories and vassals ; the rapid inva- 
sion of unprotected Palestine, where burning towns and con- 
vents and mouldering corpses marked the advance of tlie Mam- 
lukes; the surrender of Acre, Jerusalem, Ascalon, Gaza, and 
nearly all the cities on the coast and the castles in the interior, 
proclaimed the downfall of the Christian power in the East, 
which even the efforts of Barbarossa and Richard the Lion- 
Hearted were unable to restore. 

344. The northern frontiers were likewise defended by 
numerous fortresses confided to the knights of the two military 
orders. Safecl, on the high range of mountains northwest of the 
lake of Tiberias, was then a splendid castle in the possession 
of the Knights Templars. They defended it heroically against 
all the forces of the Sultan after the disastrous battle of Bl- 
Hattin and the surrender of Shobek and Kerak in 1 188. But 
it was demolished by Sultan Melek of Damascus in 1220, like 
the walls of Jerusalem, Banias, and Tibnin, for fear of the 
announced crusade of the Emperor Frederic II. at the head 
of all Christendom. Though rebuilt by the Templars and 
gallantly defended, it was stormed and taken in 1266 by Sul- 
tan Bibars of Egypt, and its two thousand warriors were, after 
the surrender, butchered in cold blood. Other castles cele- 
brated in the crusades were those on the JacolPs ford of the 
Jordan and of Banias (Paneas, Csesarea Philippi), at the head 
springs of Jordan, defending the valley and the defiles of 
Mount Hermon against Damascus. Toron (Tibnin), west of 
Banias, protected Tyre and the sea-coast, and Beaufort, Bel- 
fort (es-Shukif), high on Mount Lebanon, overhanging the 
river Litany (Leontes), the defile of Coele-Syria, and Ba'aibek. 
The latter fortress is of Roman origin. After the defeat of 
the crusaders at Banias in 1179, the Christian ai-my found 
refuge in the castle of Belfort. Salali-ed-Din besieged it in 
1189, and could only reduce it after immense exertions and 
sacrifices. The seigniories of Montfort, Baffa and Scandc- 
lion, were situated north of Acre, protecting with their castles 
and garrisons the mountain defiles along the coast, the Tijrian 
Ladder, or Bas el-Abiad (Leucum promontorium), and Tyre, 
then a large, wealthy and commercial city, strongly fortified 
and inhabited by thousands of Italian, French, and Flemish 
merchants and mariners. The sugar-cane was cultivated 
in the plain of Tyre, as it was at Jericho, on the Jordan. The 
barony of Saisette (Sidon), with the maritime port and empo- 
rium of Sidon ; the strong fortress of Franche- Garde, built 
by Saint Louis after his defeat and surrender in Egypt in 
1248, and Beirut, in its charming position at the base of Mount 
Lebanon, took all an important part in the stirring events of the 
crusades, and are mentioned on every page of the chronicles of 
the time. 

345. II. The County of Tripolis, the sovereignty of the 
brave old Raymond of Toulouse, ran along Mount Lebanon to 
the Nahr-Ioba on the north, and embraced the charming 
Buka'a, or the valley of Ba'albek, which, however, the Chris- 
tians did not cultivate with care on account of the perpetual 
inroads of the Saracen horsemen from Damascus, who carried 
off the cattle and inhabitants. This exposed territory was de- 
fended by several celebrated castles, such as Hissr ol Akrad 
(the Koord-Castle), Mons Ferrandus, Mons Pelegrinum, 
Hissr Saiidshil, and many others. Tripolis (Tarabolos), Tor- 
tosa, Botrion and Byblus (Gibail), were maritime towns with 



an active commerce and export of the rich products of Syria. 
The southern parts of the county, from the Nahr-el-Kelb to the 
Nahr-el-Kebir, were already at that time inhabited by the Chris- 
tian sect of the Maronites, so called from theia- patron saint. 
Mar Maron, of the sixth century. They retained the opinions 
of the early Monothelite heretics, with some modifications, un- 
til the twelfth century, when, abandoning the doctrines of the 
one will in Christ, they were admitted to the communion of the 
Roman church in 1 1 82, and remained faithful adherents of the 
Pope down to the present day. Their language was Syriac ; 
they dwelt in open villages on Mount Lebanon, where the great 
convent Kanobin, in the valley behind Tripolis, was the see 
of their patriarch. In their numerous monasteries and hermit- 
ages, on the rocky eminences of the mountain, they most rigidly 
observed the discipline of Saint Anthony. Their priests were 
formerly allowed to marry, and all lived peacefully in the 
bosoms of their virtuous families under a rustic roof, where 
the pilgi-im met with a hearty and hospitable reception.'*" 
The last count of Tripolis was Raymond III., who escaped 
from the defeat at el-Hattin, but died of grief immediately 
after his return in 1 187. Kelawun, the sultan of the Baharite 
Mamlukes of Egypt, conquered the county and expelled the 
crusaders in 1288. 

346. III. The Principality of Antioch, the second Latin 
settlement in Syria, had been founded by Bohemund, the Nor- 
man prince of Taranto, the son of Robert Guiscard, immedi- 
ately after the siege and conquest of the city of Antioch, in 
1098. It extended from the Nahr-el-Melk on the south to the 
Syrian defiles of Mount Amanus cu the North, and bordered 
eastward on the county of Edessa and the Euphrates at Mamb- 
edsli. Numerous castles defended the eastern frontier toward 
the Mohammedan states of Halep and Damascus; these were 
Bira, Al-Sared (Sarepta), Artasia, Harem (Hareng), Mesrin, 
Rugia, Albara, Marra, Chabarda, Apamea, Cafartab, and 
Shaizar (Larissa). Antioch was separated from the county 
of Tripolis by the castles and strongholds of the fanatic Mo- 
hammedan sect of the Ismaelites or Assassins, who, under the 
sway of the mysterious chief, the Old Man of the Mountain, 
extended from Lamsir on the shores of Caspian, across the 
Koordistan Mountains by Diarbekr and Mardin to the north- 
ern slope of Mount Lebanon and the Mediterranean between 
Nahr-el-Melk 5,nd Nahr-el-Ioba. The river Orontes has its 
origin in the upper valley of Ba'albek, and running north turns 
suddenly west ; it then receives the water of the beautiful lake 
of Ofrenus, and discharges itself ten miles west of Antioch in 
the Mediterranean, beneath the projecting promontory of 
Mount Orontes. There is still a small port or fishing village on 
the site of the formerly so opulent city of Seleucia. 

'^^ Other Christian sects on Mount Lebanon were the Suriani or 
Syrians, the ancient inhabitants, or rather a mixture of Romans, Greeks, 
and Saracens ; they had still retained many Mohammedan rites in their 
Greek liturgy. The Ncstorians believed in two natures in Christ, and 
had only three sacraments ; their priests were married. The Jacobites 
venerated Mary and the saints, but they believed only in one nature in 
Christ ; tliey circumcised the children of both sexes, and gave them a 
fire-baptism. Among the heretical Mohammedan sects of Mount Leba- 
non were the Ismaelites (2'(9, 361) and the Druses, the most remarkable. 
The latter appeared in the eleventh century, seventy years before the 
crusades, as followers of Hakim Beamrillah, the Fatimid caliph of 
Egypt, who proclaimed himself to be an incarnation of the Divinity, and 
established the sacred lodge or hall of wisdom in Cairo (280). They 
believe in the transmigration of souls, and in a ridiculous mixture of 
Christian and Mohammedan traditions ; they are likewise accused of 
licentious orgies in their secret meetings. They are a handsome people, 
aud they observe a strict outward decorum. The Druses are hardly 
mentioned by the historians of the crusades. The tradition about their 
origin from Count Drusus (Dreux), who was said to have occupied the 
Frank Mountain, and settled afterwards on Mount Lebanon with a col- 
ony of criisaders, is decidedly fabulous. 



SEVENTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1096-1300. ANTIOCII— EDESSA. 



Ill 



Antioch, once greater and i-icher than Rome and Constan- 
tinople themselves (12), was still a magnificent city with a large 
and industrious population. On the approach of the crusading 
army in 1097, the city was held by Bagi-Sejan, the lieutenant 
of Sultan Borkeiarok, with 37,000 troops, but thousands of 
Christian citizens had been ordered to leave their homes. The 
valley of the routes is bounded on the north by the fertile 
range of Cara Dagh^ or Black Mountains — entirely covered 
with vineyards and olive-groves — and south by the precipitous 
rocks of Mount Cassius, the last spur of Mount Lebanon on 
the north. It rises to a height of more than one thousand 
feet, and is divided by a deep dell, from which a wild torrent, 
foaming and chafing, traverses the city in its breadth, and flows 
into the Orontes. The view from this summit is magnificent ; 
on it lies the impregnable citadel, which is only approachable 
by a narrow path beneath the walls running up the flanks of its 
western side. The wall crowning the summit of these high 
peaks is the gigantic work of Justinian (262), though it is 
based on still larger constructions of the ancient Romans. 
These double ranges of fortifications were sixty feet high, and 
inclosed the entire city ; on the north they were washed by the 
Orontes. A fortified stone bridge crossed the river, on which 
the hardest battles between Christians and Saracens were 
fought. The former built the castle Maregard on the east, the 
Bridge Castle on the north, and the Tancredh Castle on the 
west, to cut-ofi" the communication with Damascus and Halep. 
By the treachery of Emir Feir (Phirous), an Armenian cuirass- 
maker, a tower called the Sisters, on the west side, was surren- 
dered to Bohemund, who, with his daring Normans scaled the 
walls on the night of June 1st, 1098, and thus saved the army 
of the crusaders. The great battle with Korboga of Mossoul 
was fought twenty days later on the plain north of the city, 
and terminated with the total defeat of the Moslemiu. The 
principality of Antioch was successively ruled by nine princes of 
the family of Bohemund; it was temporarily in the hands of the 
Greek emperors, but was captured after a sanguinary siege, in 
1268, by the Maniluke Sultan, Bibars I. Bendocdar, who drove 
the Christians down to the sea-coast, and circumscribed their 
dominion to Acre, Tyre, Beirut, and Tripolis. The fierce 
Mamluke did not stop with the slaughter or captivity of one 
hundred thousand Christians ; he ordered the demolition of 
Antioch, which was executed with wanton cruelty. Thus, the 
huge masses of ruined walls crowning the mountain tops, debris 
of churches and palaces here and there looking out from the 
vineyards and olive-groves, and a miserable Turkish village on 
the Orontes, are the only relics of the once celebrated x\n- 
tioch.'" Seleucia (Sowaida), at the mouth of the Orontes, and 
Scanderoon (Alexandretta), northward on the coast, and sepa- 
rated from Antioch by the celebrated defile, Beilan Boghas, 
were considered as the ports of the capital. Laodiccea (Lata- 
kieh) and Gabala (Gibel), south, on the coast ; the former was 
for a length of time occupied by the Greeks. Doluk, Aintab, 
Ravendel, and Doivair, were fortified towns in the interior. 

347. IV. The County of Edessa (13), in the ancient 
Mesopotamia — AlDjezirah of the Arabs (205), was the first 
state in Asia formed by the crusaders in 1097. The Christian 
inhabitants of Edessa did homage to Count Baldwin of Bou- 

'" It would be difficult to describe the melancholy impression which 
is excited iu the bosom of the traveller at the sight of the desolate ruins 
of Antioch ! Damascus, with its immense population and its splendid 
bazaars; Jerusalem, with its churches, convents, and pilgrims; even 
Sidon, Beirut, Tripolis, and Tarsus, with their commercial life and 
activity, their ports and shipping, present still moving pictures of ori- 
ental manners and prosperity, while the squalid misery of the villagers 
of the present Andakieh stands in mournful contrast to the unrivalled 
beauty of the natural scenery around them. 



logneon his approach. Several Turkish chiefs in the neighbor- 
hood sold their territories to him ; others were conquered ; 
and thus this active and daring prince succeeded in extending 
his principality, with the important cities of Malatia (Meli- 
iene),Samosata and Kart-Birt in the north; Severak, Hamlin 
and Harran in the east, and Mamhcdsh and Shabactun in 
the south. Edessa (Roha, Orfah), in a strong position with 
immense walls and an industrious population, was the capital 
of the county and the bulwark of the kingdom of Jerusalem. 
Warriors so able and powerful as the first Count Baldwin of 
Boulogne and his successor, Baldwin of Burg, defended the 
county most brilliantly against the efi"orts of the disunited 
Turkish sultans of Mossoul and Halep. But when those chiefs 
had successively been called to the throne of Jerusalem ; when 
the vigilant Count Joscelin of Courtenay had died in 1131, 
and his .dissipated son, Joscelin II., dallied away his time in 
Tell Basher with wine and women, new dangers began to threaten 
this exposed border province. Zenghi, the celebrated attabek 
of Mossoul (331) appeared suddenly with a large army before 
Edessa in 1144, during the absence of the count, captured the 
city by treachery, and drove the Franks from all their posses- 
sions on the left bank of the Euphrates. With the greatest 
exertions they were only able to defend Germanica, Rumkala, 
the important Tell Basher (Turbassel), Nezib, and some other 
castles on the west of that river. The untoward news of these 
disgraceful events in Europe caused the French king and Ger- 
man emperor to undertalce the unsuccessful second great cru- 
sade in the years 1147-48. 

348. Constitution of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. In 
the assembly of the great feudatories held by King Godfrey at 
Jerusalem, in January, 1 100, the constitution of the new king- 
dom was laid down in the code, or as it was called, the Assize 
of Jerusalem, one of the most precious documents of the feudal 
legislation of the middle ages. The knights and other crusa- 
ders who had taken possession of Syria, were natives of the 
most difi"erent countries of Europe: — of France, Italy, England, 
and Lorraine. None of them could claim his native laws as 
the groundwork for the new constitution of the conquered 
lands : it was therefore to be established according to the gen- 
eral leading principles of the feudal system in Europe and to 
the urgent necessity of the moment. Thus, the component 
political bodies in Jerusalem consisted of the feudal nobility, 
the hierarchy, and the corporations of the free burgesses, 
not yet recognized in Europe as a third estate. The first two 
were then engaged in a fierce contest of life and death, while 
the latter had just sprung into existence at the expense of the 
former during their struggle. From the combination of these 
heterogeneous elements then, arose the kingdom of Jerusalem, 
that ideal mediaeval state, the very caricature of a political 
organization of the eleventh century, in which we find on the 
one hand the most suspicious restriction of royal power, and 
on the other all the abuses of feudal independence. Jerusa- 
lem, according to the Assize, was an indivisible kingdom, hered- 
itary in the male and female lines. When extinct, the election 
of the successor to the crown belonged to the high clergy and 
the barons. The king was crowned by the Patriarch of Jeru- 
salem, and was obliged to swear to the constitution. The crown 
lands formed only a single barony for the support of the king, 
who was thus doomed to remain the poorest monarch in Chris- 
tendom. The great principalities of Edessa, Antioch, and later 
of Tripolis likewise, were considered as baronies, and their 
princely owners formed the first secular estate of the kingdom, 
their vassals the second, and their rear-vassals oi- valvasours 
the third. Yet not only the three princes, but all the barons 
and the prelates enjoyed the regalia: the right of coinage, and of 
feudal warfare : they presided in their own feudal courts over 
their vassals, in the same manner as the king in his ^supreme 



112 



SEVENTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1096-1300. ARMENIA— CYPRUS. 



court over the barons ; like the king, they had their own 
viscount as judge of the municipal courts in the cities. The 
fiefs were hereditarj', and minute regulations were laid down 
respecting succession, cessions, guardianships, and the like. 
Different again from the baronies were the knights' fiefs of the 
crown lands, which the king distributed as a baron to brave war- 
riors with military tenure ; they ranked only with the rear- 
vassals of the princes, and depended solely on the crown. 
There was a high court — haute coiir — in which the king sat 
as president over the great vassals, and another for the burges- 
ses — cour des barges. The members of the first were knights 
— and the jurymen of the latter respectable citizens. For the 
native Syrians there existed a Syrian tribunal, and the cities 
enjoyed extensive privileges ; but they remained mostly in the 
possession of the republics of Pisa, Araalfi, Genoa, and Venice, 
who obtained entire quarters in the maritime town, where 
they built towers and fortified bazaars under their proper laws 
and euardians. All these mail-clad merchants often thwarted 
or fought with one another, and constantly confounded piracy 
and commerce. The feudal militai-y service under the crown 
was rendered by six hundred and sixty-six knights and two 
hundred knights under the banner of Tripolis and Antioch. 
Each knight was attended by four mounted squires in light 
armature, thus forming an array of three thousand five hun- 
dred lances. The cities and churches supplied five thousand 
sergeants or archers on foot ; the commercial corporations of 
Pisa, Genoa, and Venice some five hundred more ; and in this 
manner the regular militia of Palestine amounted to ten thou- 
sand troops ; though this number could be doubled in cases of 
great danger. After having repressed the arrogance of the 
priesthood, Godfrey soon regulated the ecclesiastical affairs. 
The canonic law was introduced, and the entire conquei-ed ter- 
ritory divided into dioceses with suffragan churches, numerous 
monasteries, convents, and pious institutes, all dependent on 
the Patriarch of Jerusalem. , 

The crusaders in Palestine attempted to engraft their own 
fantastical system on a soil where it never could grow ; nay, 
they carried it to the highest pitch of exaggeration by the in- 
stitution of religious orders of military monks ; but they failed, 
and. enlightened by the experience of two centuries, their de- 
scendants gave up at last the vain contest, and brought more 
correct and enlightened views and ideas back to Europe, where 
a new period of political and religious emancipation began to 
dawn. The first conquest and colonization of Syria by the 
Latins had a brilliant appearance ; but in spite of an extraor- 
dinary display of religious enthusiasm and military bravery, 
the new kingdom did not prosper ; it suffered from an innate 
debility — a gangrene — at its very birth. That long and nar- 
row strip of coast, with barren mountains interspersed with 
arid deserts or fertile plains, then almost entirely devastated 
and depopulated by war and famine, had become occupied by 
a number of proud, ignorant warriors, whose whole attention 
was drawn off to the defence of the castles Avhich they built for 
the security of their conquest ; they were all equals ; they de- 
fied obedience, and could only be reduced by the sword ; the 
prelates were as warlike, and often more haughty and quarrel- 
some than the knights themselves ; they peopled monasteries 
and convents with thousands of monks and nuns. While thus 
secular and ecclesiastical bigots formed the ruling classes, the 
native Syrians and Greeks were oppressed ; their lands were 
occupied by the chivalrous aristocrats, and they were stripped 
of their commercial profit by the Venetian and Genoese repub- 
licans. What wonder, then, that they soon became hostile to 
their Latin masters and renewed their relations to the Greek 
emperors, and even to the Mohammedans themselves. But 
the young and rising generation, sprung forth from the union 



of the old crusaders with the native women of Syria — would 
not they contribute to the prosperity of their mother country ? 
Oh no ! Instead of inheriting the manly virtues of their fathers, 
they only combined the vices of the West with the cunning, the 
luxury, and selfishness of the East. They were the most con- 
temptible race on the face of the earth. They were with scorn 
called Poulani (young mules), and they themselves, by their 
arrogance, treachery, and cowardice, were the main cause of 
the early decline and ultimate downfall of the Christian settle- 
ments in Palestine, by their thwarting all the noble and gene- 
rous efforts of the succeeding crusaders, who in vain shed their 
blood for the salvation of Jerusalem. 



V. The Kingdom of Armenia. 

349. Extent, Dynasty, and Cities. The territory of Ar- 
menia Minor (25), which later formed the Byzantine themes of 
Lykandos and Seleukeia, and part of that of Kappadokia (266), 
between the river Halys, the Pontian Mountains, the Euphrates, 
Commagena, and the Issian Gulf, became, toward the close of 
the eleventh century, an independent state, whose kings, by 
the passage of the crusading armies and by their friendly re- 
lations to the princes of Antioch and Edessa, were enabled to 
beat back the attacks of Greeks and Turks. Leo II. took, in 
1099, the royal title. The principal strength of the state was 
concentred in Cilicia ; yet it seems that it extended northward 
to the Black Sea at certain periods. About the middle of the 
thirteenth century the Armenian kings did homage to the 
Turkish sultan of Rum, and joined his banner with three hun- 
dred knights. They enjoyed the protection of the Mongols, 
but the last king, Leo VI., was captured by the Baharid Mani- 
lukes of Egypt, who occupied the country until it in the fifteenth 
century came under the dominion of the Ottoman Turks. The 
Armenians were a laborious and religious people, but unwmr- 
like and intemperate ; they possessed great ability in arts and 
mechanics ; their embroidery and silk weaving were celebrated ; 
they recognized the supremacy of the Roman pope in the synod 
at Sis in 1307, though many of the ceremonies in the Arme- 
nian church were considered as heretical by the Romans. 
Their patriarch was called Catliolicus, and wielded a mighty 
influence. The Armenian priests were married, and distin- 
guished for their learning. Their literature is rich, though 
still unprinted. By the relations between the Armenians and 
the crusadei'S, the former soon adopted many European insti- 
tutions. The court of the Armenian kings introduced Prankish 
costumes and titles, and a seneschal [connetable) commanded 
the army ; the nobles were called barons, and every hill of Ar- 
menia was crowned with a castle. Yet commerce was their 
principal occupation, and their ports were constantly visited by 
the mercantile squadrons of Venice and Genoa. 

Mamistra (Mopsvestia), on the river Fyramus, was the 
capital. Anazarbus (Anavarza), higher up on the same river. 
— Aclana and Tarsus, in the beautiful jjlain of Cilicia,. The 
rapid and deep Calycadnus (Seleph) formed the frontier to- 
ward the Turkish provinces. The Emperor Frederick Barba- 
rossa was drowned while swimming his horse through that river 
on his march to Syria, in 1191. Ajas, by the Italians called 
Giazza, was the principal harbor of export. Sis, on Mount 
Amanus, the later capital, strongly fortified, was the patri- 
archal see. There the synod was held in 1307. 

VI. The Kingdom of Cyprus. 

350. Origin, Constitution, and Cities. Richard the Lion- 
Hearted conquered the island from the tyrant Isaac Comne- 
nus, in 1191, and surrendered it to the Knights Templars. 
But the order being unable to overcome the hatred of the 



SEVENTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1096-1300. CYPRUS— CONSTANTINOPLE. 



118 



Greeks and their continual conspiracies, gave it back to Guy 
of Lusignan, whose descendants ruled the island for two cen- 
turies \vl en Catherina Cornara brought it to Venice in 1486. 
Cyprus took an important part in the crusades ; it served as a 
refuge for the Syrian Christians on the loss of Acre in 1291 ; 
and became afterwards the great naval station for Templars 
and Hospitallers, whence they directed all their expeditions to 
the Syrian coast. The constitution of the kingdom was an 
imitation of the assize of Jerusalem (346) ; the number of the 
barons was one hundred and twenty-seven ; they formed the 
high council ; the whole island was divided into twelve dis- 
tricts {contade). The kings established a particular order of 
knighthood of the Sword. The court language was French ; 
the army consisted of the feudal chivalry and some bodies of 
light Albanian mercenaries. The native inhabitants are a fine 
race of men ; the women are beautiful, and by the vivacity of 
their large dark eyes, seem to declare how faithful they still 
are to the worship of Venus. At the time of the crusades, 
the Cypriots were either, 1, Freemen or Eleutheri {IXevSipoi), 
who paid half the income of their fields, and Perperii {TnpiripLOL), 
who paid fifteen Perpers (gold Byzants) ; and, 2, serfs or Pa- 
riks (TrapoLKoi), who belonged as property to their masters. 
Agriculture and commerce were flourishing, but the latter 
mostly in the hands of the rapacious Genoese, who, from their 
fortified port, Famagusta, on the eastern coast, tyrannized 
both over the king and the people. The island produced the 
finest fruits, timber, wool, silk, cotton, oil, wine, sugar, grains, 
madder, honey, wax, corals, all sorts of minerals, copper, and 
excellent salt. Hyacinths, anemones, ranunculuses, and the 
single and double narcissus, grow here without cultivation; 
they deck the mountains, and give the country the appearance 
of an immense flower-garden. 

Nicosia (Leucosia), north of Mount Olympus, in the centre 
of the island, on a magnificent site, was the capital and the 
seat of government ; many ruins still attest its former splen- 
dor. Constantia (267), now in ruins. Famagusta and 
Larnaca were ports possessed by the Genoese. Limisso or 
Limasol (Amathus), on the southern coast, with the strong 
castle Colosso, belonged to the Order of the Hospital. On 
the western coast in a romantic scenery lay Baffo (Paphos), 
with the ruins of the temple of Venus and the castle Dieio 
d'' Amour. 

VII. Latin Empire of Romania. 

351. The Fourth Crusade, Conquest of Byzantium. 
During the brilliant reign of Calo-Johannes and Manuel Com- 
neni (1118-1 180) the frontiers of the Greek Empire had again 
been extended to Mount Taurus and the plains of Cappadocia, 
the Turks in Asia Minor and the Petcheneges (254) on the 
Danube had been defeated, the Sicilian Normans beaten back 
from Greece, and the Empire strengthened. But the heart- 
less adventurer, Andronious Comnenus, who, after the most 
wonderful vicissitudes of fortune had swung himself from the 
prison on the throne, caused terrible revolutions in the inte- 
rior, while the Bulgarians and Servians broke their chains and 
constituted independent kingdoms. The monster himself fell 
a victim to the popular fury in 1 195. The family of the 
Angeli was raised to the throne, but Isaac was soon dethroned 
by his brother Alexius, while his son, another Alexius, fled to 
Europe and called to his aid the French and Venetian crusa- 
ding army, then preparing in Venice for a new expedition to 
the East.'^^ 

"" A. D. 1203. Arrival of the crusaders at Constantinople, They 
take possession of Galata and encamp at Saint Cosmas, opposite the 
palace of Blachernse. 

A. n. 1204. Revolutions in the cit}^ Flight of Alexius. Restarn^ 

15 



By the conquest of Constantinople the absolute Greek 
monarchy had been transformed into the feudal Empire of 
Romania. After the coronation of Baldwin of Flanders, the 
chiefs of the crusading army began to carry into execution the 
act of partition as arranged by the joint consent of the Franks 
and Venetians. But their ignorance of geography, and the re- 
sistance ofi'ered by the Greeks in Asia Minor, and by the Wal- 
lachians and Albanians in Europe, threw innumerable diflicul- 
ties in the way of the proposed distribution of the fiefs. The 
emperor received for his portion only the city of Constanti- 
nojole. with Thrace in Europe, the opposite coast in Asia, and 
a few of the islands, Lemnos, Samothrace., Thasos, Imbros, 
Tenedos, and Lesbos, while the Venetian republic and the bar- 
ons of France were to share the rest under the suzerainty of 
the Empire. Every feudatory had himself to find the means 
of conquering the Grecian territory assigned to him. Thus, 
the treaty dould only be executed in part, as many barons were 
unable to put themselves in possession of their portion. The 
powerful and crafty Venetians, however, began immediately to 
occupy the islands and to purchase entire provinces at the cheap- 
est cost. From the Marquis Boniface of Montferrat they pur- 
chased the island of Crete ; they abandoned the maxims of 
their suspicious government, and permitted their nobles to fit 
out expeditions and make conquests among the Greek islands, 
with the single obligation of rendering homage to Saint Mark. 
Thus, within a few years, Venice formed a chain of factories, 
and castles on the islands along the coast from Dalmatia to the 
Hellespont and Bosphorus. But the Greek nation, though 
betrayed by their princes and borne down by the impetuous 
bravery of the fierce crusading adventurers of the West, soon 
recovered from their dismay. Theodore Lascaris maintained 
himself at Brusa in Bithynia, and fixed the residence of his 
Greek empire at JVicesa. Alexis and David Comneni held 
Paphlago/iia and Ponttis, where they established the small 
but vigorous state of Trebizond ; while Michael Angelos lifted 
his banner in Arta as Greek Despot or Ruler of Epirus and 
Etolia. Thus, surrounded by enemies and weakened by the 
insubordination and open feuds of its haughty feudatories, the 
Empire of Romania, without union, talent, or vitality, became 
the very caricature of feudality ; like that of Jerusalem, 
suffering from its origin an infirmity and wretchedness which 
caused its early destruction. The geographical division of the 
Empire, however, becomes an important fact in the history of 
the middle ages on account of the many independent states 
which formed themselves in Greece and on the islands, of the 
rapid development of eastern commerce and colonization by 
the Venetian and Genoese republics, and the formation of the 
Comnenian Empire of Trebizond, which, under the most ex- 
traordinary vicissitudes maintained its independence, though 
bordering on Mongols and Turks, for two centuries, and out- 
lived even Constantinople herself. 

352. The Empire of Romania and its Feudal Depend- 
encies. 

T. The Crownlands embraced Thrace as far north as 



tion of Isaac. Conspu'acy of Mursuphlos. Division of the Empire 
among the crusaders. 

12th April. General assault. The city stormed and taken from the 
galleys in the Golden Horn. Old Henry Dandolo on the walls. Twenty 
thousand Latin adventurers overpower a population of five hundred 
thousand Greeks, Conflagration and spoliation of the imperial city. 
New division of the Empire. Count Baldwin of Flanders chosen 
Emperor. 

A. D. 1205. — 15th April. Battle of Adrianople. Baldwin defeated 
and captured by the Bulgarians. See for these extraordinary events, 
Gibbon, chap. LX. LXI, and Raumer's Oescliichte (lef Hoheiistavfen rmd 
Hirer Zeif, Yo], JII. pages 40-98, 



114 



SEVENTH PERIOD A. D.— 1096-1300. SALONIKI— ATHENS. 



Adriaiiople and Agathopolis on the coast of the Bhxck Sea, 
and west as far as the river Strymon. North of this line the 
Bulgarians were in open rebellion, having called John Asan or 
Johanitza to the throne of the New Bulgarian kingdom. In 
the East the Latin Empire extended along the coast of the 
Hellespont, through part of Bithynia to the river Sangarios, 
together with the islands Prokonnesos, Lesbos, Chios, Lem- 
nos, Sk3'ros, and several smaller islands in the JEgean. 

353. CoNSTANTiNOPLK had suffered dreadfully during the 
siege. The crusaders having set fire to some houses,' the con- 
flagration spread with rapidity, traversed the whole breadth 
of the city from the port of the Golden Horn (7) to the Pro- 
pontis, and laid every building in ashes for the distance of a 
mile and a half. The wealthiest quarter, including the richest 
warehouses and the most splendid palaces of the Byzantine 
nobility, filled with works of art, oriental manufactures, and 
classic manuscripts, was destroyed. During the assault, the 
Venetians, to protect their advance into the city, laid waste 
the whole quarter extending from the hill of Blachernae to the 
monastery of the Evergetes and the quarter of Devteron. The 
cathedral of Santa Sophia, the noblest church in Christendom, 
narrowly excaped the flames, but was stripped of all its rich 
ornaments by the sacrilegious hands of the crusaders.'" The 
Latin clergy, of course, eagerly joined in plundering relics 
from the altars, and they made as little scruple in desecrating 
Byzantine churches and monasteries as the most licentious 
among the warriors. The handsomer palaces were taken pos- 
session of by the chiefs ; the emperor himself occupied the 
magnificent church and convent of the Pantokrator, and the 
Venetians fortified themselves permanently in G-alata, on the 
north of the port. So miserable a government as that of the 
six Latin emperors of Constantinople could not last. On 
the 25th of July, 1261, Alexius Strategopulos, the general of 
Michael Palaeologus, the emperor of Nicaea, was secretly in- 
troduced into the city through a subterranean passage ; the 
Golden Gate was then opened, and when the trumpets sounded 
the alarm, the Greek inhabitants flew to arms, expelled the 
Latin emperor Baldwin II. with his patriarch, prelates, and 
knights, and restored the city and the imperial crown to their 
native prince. Adrianople, on the Hebrus (Maritza), where 
Baldwin I. was defeated and captured by the Bulgarians in 
1205. Tzurulum, Byzia, Tyniotikon^ Ainon, Philippopolis, 
Mosynopolis, and Rhodostos, were the most remarkable cities 
in Thrace during this period. 

VIII. Kingdom of Saloniki. 

354. II. The province of Thessalonica (Saloniki) had, 
together with Greece, been awarded to the warlike Marquis 
Boniface of Montferrat, with the royal title. It comprised 
the greater part of ancient Macedonia, and Boniface carried 
his victorious arms into Greece, where he every where divided 
the conquered territories among his knights ; but having per- 
ished in a skirmish with the Bulgarians, in 1207, his kingdom 
was invaded by the Greek despot, Theodore of Epirus, who 
was received with open arms by the Greeks, and crowned em- 
peror at Thessalonica in 1282, This feudal state bore within 
itself the seeds of its own destruction. The Lombard war- 
riors, by whom it was founded, were less able than the subtle 

"^ Nicetas, the Byzantine historian, recounts with grief and indig- 
pation the desecration of the sanctuary, so venerable in the eyes of the 
Greeks, by the orgies of the northern warriors and their female com- 
panions, and how "one of these priestesses of Satan" seated herself on 
the patriarchal throne, sang ribald songs through her nose, in imitation 
of the Greek sacred music, and then danced iip apd down before the 
high altar. This gives us an idea of the sufferings and humiliations of 
the wretched Greeks, 



Venetians in securing their conquests. They remained stran- 
gers in the country, garrisoning the fortresses and living on 
the industry of the Greeks, taking no measures to occupy and 
cultivate the soil. They were, therefore, easily expelled. 

IX. The Duchy of Athens, 1205-1456. 

855. III. Extent, Dynasty, and Manners. — Attica and 
Bceotia were for ever separated from the Byzantine Empire; 
they fell to the share of the Burgundian nobleman, Otho 
de la Boche, who accompanied the Marquis of Montferrat on 
his expedition to Greece. The family de la Roche ^^* held 
likewise Corinth and Argos as tenures of the principality of 
the Morea. Otho had the title of Grand Sire — Meyas Kt'ptos 
— and his successor Guy de la Roche obtained from Saint 
Louis of France the ducal dignity in 1254. In this period, 
towards the close of the thirteenth century,' the Chronicles 
give us lively and interesting details of the flourishing condi- 
tion of Athens and almost every part of Greece. The Latin 
Archbishop of Athens ruled over fifteen suifragans, among 
whom were the Bishops of Thebes, Thermojiylcz, and the 
islands of Euboea, Aegina, Keos, and SJcyros. Latin churches 
and convents arose, the ruins and inscriptions of which are 
still extant. The Counts of Soula (Salona) in Phocis, of 
Boclonitza in Locris, and the Lords of Euboea, together with 
a thousand French barons and their vassals, followed the ducal 
banner, while the Greek levies formed the light-armed infantry 
or archery of the time. The dukes resided either at Athens 
or in the strong and beautiful castle of Saint Omer (Santo- 
meri) at Thebes.'*^ Their court vied in splendor vrith those 
of Western Europe. At the magnificent tournaments which 
the dukes frequently held in the plain of Athens or at Thebes, 
princes, knights and minstrels met from the most distant 
countries. Both the prelates and the respectable classes of 
the Greeks appeared at these festivals, and all were the guests 
of the liberal dukes. Blany brave but indigent knights who 
came to Athens to make their fortune, were hospitably received 
and their service rewarded with military commands, estates, 
and the fair hand of some noble lady ; nay, the Duke Guy 
II. himself condescended to receive the accolade from Sir 
Boniface of Verona, a brave Italian knight at a tournament 
near Thebes. Even the humble squires, minstrels and jong- 
leurs were not forgotten, and it is curious to observe in the 
old records the gifts and largesses distributed among " Ics 
7nenestreux et jongleurs " of the ducal court at Athens. Nu- 
merous towers and castles rose all over the country ; many of 
them are still seen, and some even in so good a state of preser- 
vation that they served the Greeks as strongholds in the late 
war of independence against the Ottomans. Such are, for 
instance, the castles of Eriinokastro, Koroneia, Livadia, Bodo- 
nitza, Patrachik, Lamia, and the larger fortresses of Orfios, 

''■' Otho de la Roche, Grand Sire, 1205-1225. Guy I. de Eay, Duku 
of Athens, 1225-1264. John, son of Guy, 1264-1275. William, brother 
of John, 1275-1290. Guy 11., son of William, 1290-1308. The duchy 
then passed to a cousin of Guy II., Walter de Brienne, who soon after 
(1311) fell in the battle on the Cephissus against the Grand Company 
of the Catalans. 

"^'^ The high Gothic tower on the western ascent of the Acropolis 
at Athens was erected by Otho, or by his successor Guy de la Roche ;. 
the ducal palace extended along the Propyloea eastward to the Erech- 
theion, where its vaulted prisons still can be seen. The late lamented 
J. A. Buchon discovered in 1841 the sepulchral vault of the dukes in 
the ruinous convent of Baphni, at a distance of six miles from Athens, 
on the Sacred Road to Eleusis. Two sarcophagi were found in the 
sepulchral chamber of the interior narthex of the church, the one of 
wliich by its sculptured escutcheon, the cross with the fleur-de-lis in 
the upper corners of the cross, was proved to have been that of Duke 
Guy de la Roche. 



SEVENTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1096-1300. ATHENS— ACHAIA. 



115 



Chalkis, Destos, and Karystos in Euboea. The proud French 
barons chose their brides among the high-born maidens of 
France ; and the Catalonian chronicler, Ramon Muntaner, 
who visited Athens at that time, says, " that the French barons 
formed the noblest chivalry in the world, and that the French 
tongue was spoken at Athens with as much grace and elegance 
as at Paris itself." The cities of Greece were large and 
wealthy— the country thickly covered with villages, of which 
the ruins may still be traced in spots affording no indications 
of ancient Hellenic sites. Aqueducts and cisterns then gave 
fertility to land unproductive at the present day ; olive, almond, 
and fig trees, intermingled with vineyards and orchards, covered 
ground now reduced, by want of irrigation, to yield only scanty 
pasturage to flocks of nomade Wallachians. The Valonia oak, 
the cotton, the silk and leather of Attica, then supplied native 
manufactories, and the surplus commanded high prices in the 
European markets. The trade of Athens was considerable, 
and the condition of the Greek subjects of the dukes less op- 
pressed than at subsequent periods. Civilization had there 
penetrated deeper into the social relations than in other parts 
of Europe. Otho de la Roche secured to the Greeks of Athens 
all the pi'ivileges which they had enjoyed under the Byzantine 
government, with much greater freedom from financial oppres- 
sion. The feudal conquerors of Greece soon perceived that it 
was greatly for their interest to respect the terms of the 
capitulations concluded with their Greek subjects, and to gain 
their good will. The grand feudatories found in the Greeks 
useful allies in opposing the exorbitant pretensions of their 
own immediate vassals and military followers, and in restrain- 
ing the avarice of the Latin clergy, the ambition of the pope, 
and the pretensions of the Emperor of Romania. The peculiar 
condition of the Greek landed proprietors taught their princes 
the necessity of alleviating the natural severity of the feudal 
system and modifying the contempt it inculcated for the indus- 
trious and unwarlike classes of society. The high value of 
some of the productions of Greece, before the discovery of 
America and the route to India by the Cape of Good Hope, 
placed the landed proprietors of Attica and Boeotia in receipt 
of considerable money-revenues. They were enabled, to pay 
their dukes an amount of taxation which many monarchs in 
Western Europe were unable to extract from numerous cities 
and burghs, whose trade depended on slow and expensive land- 
communications, and from cultivators without capital, who 
raised little but grain and cattle. An alliance of interest was 
thus formed between the Prankish princes and their Greek 
subjects ; the taxes paid by the latter supplied their sovereign 
with the means of hiring more obedient military followers than 
the array of the vassals of the fiefs. It became consequently 
an object of importance to the Prankish barons in Greece to 
protect the natives as allodial proprietors, or, at least, as hold- 
ing thgir lands directly from the prince, on payment of a 
money-rent corresponding to the amount of taxation they had 
previously paid to the Byzantine Empire, instead of distributing 
the land among the invaders as military fiefs. Interest, there- 
fore, preserved to the Greek proprietors the richest portions 
of the conquered territory in the immediate vicinity of the 
towns ; while the crusaders generally received the territorial 
domains, for which they were bound to pay personal military 
service, in the more distant valleys and retired districts — a fact 
which is still proved by the existing divisions of property and 
by the ruins of the feudal strongholds on the frontiers. Out 
of this state of things there can be no doubt that a constant 
struggle arose between the dukes, who desired to extend their 
authority and increase their revenues — the Prankish military 
vassals, who demanded the complete division of the whole 
conquered country, in order to increase the numbers and power 
of their own class — and the Greeks, who labored and intrigued 



to defend their possessions and maintain the capitulations. To 
the existence of this struggle for a long period, without any 
party venturing openly to disregard the principles of justice 
and the force of public opinion, we must in a great measure 
attribute the prosperous state of Athens and Thebes, under 
the government of the house of de la Roche and the long 
duration of the Prankish domination in Attica."' 

X. Principality of Achaia and the Morea. 

356. IV. Conquest and Constitution. The peninsula of 
Peloponnesus or the Morea had, in the general partition of the 
empire (349), been assigned to Robert de Champlitte, Count of 
Dijon in Burgundy, who, with the assistance of Geoffrey de Vil- 
lehardoin and a large body of knights and men-at-arms, soon took 
possession of the greater part of the open coitntry. Five thousand 
Greeks, consisting of the armed citizens of the towns of Lacedas- 
mon, Veligosti, and Nikli, and the Sclavonian mountaineers, 
the Melingi, on Mount Taygetus (196), attempted to make a 
stand near the olive-grove of Koicndoura^ in the Messenian 
plain, but they were immediately ridden down and dispersed ; 
the cities of Patrae, Andravida, Koron, Kalainata, and Ar- 
kadia, surrendered, and the Burgundian conqueror was pro- 
claimed. Prince of the Morea in the subjected districts. The 
conquest became the more easy since the Byzantine nobles, 
the archous and the priests crowded around the crusaders in 
order to obtain terms for themselves and preserve their estates 
and churches, thus abandoning the mixed Grecian and Scla- 
vonian population to their fate. William de Champlitte held 
in 1205 a general diet at Andravida in Elis, where a highly 
remarkable constitution was drawn up, similar to the Dooms- 
day book of William the Conqueror in England (291), and the 
feudal code or assize of Jerusalem (346) adopted as the fun- 
damental law of the principality. According to this charter 
of Andravida, the entire Peloponnesus (though hardly one- 
third part of the peninsula had yet been conquered) was divided 
into twelve great baronies, seven bishoprics, and three com- 
manderies of the military orders of the Temple, of Saint John 
and of Saint Mary (the Teutonic knights), which were assigned 
to the chiefs, prelates, and knights of the expedition, with rich 
allotments for churches and convents. Each barony and 
bishopric was subdivided into a certain number of knights' 
fiefs, m all 138. The barons, the military orders, and the 
church, held their possessions by feudal tenure, and were bound 
to keep their rear-vassals armed in the field for the prosecution 
of the conquest. A large number of single knights' fiefs and 
sergeants' lands were likewise distributed among the troops, 
who were all bound to personal service. Domains were assigned 
to the Prince, and Andravida, situated in the Elian plain, and 
protected by the strong fortresses of Glao-enza, Castro- Tor- 
nese, a,nd Belvoir, became the new capital of the Franks. 

The Greek archons seem to have been admitted at the 
diets as representatives of the city population, to secure the 
observance of the capitulations and watch over the interests of 
the conquered nation. But they gradually lost both in pos- 
sessions and influence, and were thus punished for their want 
of patriotism and bravery, while the Greek clergy were now 
to witness, with horror, the introduction of the Latin rites 
and worship, the canonical law and the sovereign dominion of 
the Pope of Rome,'" The conduct of the Latin clergy was 

'^'' See Colonel Finlaj^'s Mediseval Greece (from wliicli these inter- 
esting detail are taken), Edinburgh, 1851, pages 153-169. 

'" This was indeed an astonishing victory of the proud, heartless 
Innocent III., over the Greek Church. By this unjust and sacrilegious 
conquest of Constantinople and Greece, the Pope extended the Eoman 
Catholic sway over thirty-two archiepiscopal provinces, with more limn 
one hundred and twenty n^yf bishoprics and numberless monasteries and 
missions. But the triumph of arrogant Rome was not of long durnlion. 



116 



SEVENTH PEEIOD.— A. D. 1096-1300. PELOPONNESUS 



uncharitable and rapacious. The Pope himself was obliged to 
interfere to save the poor Greek bishops from being expelled 
from their episcopal sees; nay, the violent conduct of the 
ecclesiastical fortune-hunters who flocked to Greece, compelled 
the barons to become the defenders of their Greek subjects, 
and the enemies of clerical abuses. 

Only the western portion of the peninsula had been sub- 
dued by Count Robert de Champlitte. On his return to 
France soon after the diet of Andravida, his bailiff, the brave 
and intelligent Geoffrey Villehardoin, extended the Prankish 
dominion over all Arcadia and Laconia, and succeeded, by his 
popularity and valor, no less than by his duplicity and fraud, in 
obtaining the hereditary sovereignty of the entire principality 
of the Morea.'"'* His able successors, with the assistance of 
Venetian fleets, occupied the strong Byzantine fortresses of 
Argos, Nauplion, Gorinth, and Moiiembasia on the coast, 
and they thus found themselves, in 1250, in quiet possession 
of that magnificent country. 

357. Feudal Division of the Principality. I. Baro- 
nies. — The twelve great Barons (Bannerets) were those of 
Kalamdta, AJcova, Karitena, Patras, Vostitza, Chalandritza, 
Kaldvrita, NiJdi, Veligosti, GrUzena, Gerald and Passava, 
in all containing ninety-four knights' fiefs. II. The Ecclesi- 
astical Possessions belonged to the Archbishop of Patras as 
primate of the principality, and his six suffragans, the bishops 
of Olenos or Andravida^ Modon, Coron, Veligosti, NiJdi 
and Lacedcemon, containing thirty-two knights' fiefs; and III., 
the three Commanderies of the military orders of the Hospital 
of Saint John, in Jerusalem, the Temple, and St. Mary, with 
twelve knights' fiefs. 

358. Cities, Castles, and Historical Sites. Andravida, 
in the fertile plain of the Peneios, in Elis, was the capital of 
the Princes of the Morea, where they held their diets and 
high courts of justice. It is now a large, populous village, 
with well furnished markets ; above the low houses rise the 
lofty columns of the Gothic Churches of Santa Sophia, and St. 
Stephen. The third ruinous church of this period is that 
of Saint James, which belonged to the Knights Templars, 
and contained the sepulchral vaults of the Villehardoin dy- 
nasty. Glarenza, on the coast, was the port of Andravida, 
as Kyllene, in the same situation, had been of the ancient 
Hellenic city of Elis. Castro Torne&e, or Chlomutzi, a strong 
fortress on the promontory of Chelonatas, where the princes 
had established their mint and treasury. Some of the most 
important baronial castles of the Prankish feudatories, were 
early built in strong and commanding positions, whence they 
could control the Greek and Sclavonian population in the 
valleys around. Such were Akova, called Mate- Chifon, or 
Stop-Greek, on a precipitous ridge, south of the river Ladon. 
Akova still presents some beautiful ruins, with walls and tow- 
ers, near the village Vytitza. On the east the access was 
guarded by another castle, Galata. The barony of Akova, 
the first in rank and importance, embraced the valleys of the 
Ladon and the Alpheus, and kept in check the Sclavonians of 
Skorta (Gortys), in the high ranges of the Arkadian Moun- 
tains. The barony became celebrated during the reign of 

'■'" The djna-ity of Villehardoin possessed the principality of Aeliaia 
and Morea for longer than a century. "William de Channilitte, 1205- 
1210. Geoffrey I., Villehardoin, 1210-1218. Geoffrey II., 1218-1246. 
William Villehardoin (Kalamatis, younger son of Geoffrey 1), 1246- 
1277. Isabella, 1277-1311. Maud of Hainault, 1311-1317. The fraud 
by which Geoffrey I. obtained the sovereignty of the Morea is pleasantly 
told in the modem Greek poem on the conquests of the Franks in the 
Morea, published in Greek and French by Buehon. Paris, 1840. See 
likewise Buclion's Hietoire des Conquetes et de V etahlissement des Fran- 
fais dans Ics Hals de I'anciemie Gr'cce sous les Villehardoin, Paris, ] 846, 
Vol. 1. pages 179-184; and our third article on Sparta and the Dorians 
ill the Xow-York Qimrterly, Vol. III., No. 1, for October, 1854. 



William of Villehardoin, by a lawsuit, in which that prince, 
in 1270, before the high feudal court at Andravida, defrauded 
the orphan maiden, Margaret of Neuilly, of the inheritance 
of her uncle, Walter de Rossieres, baron of Akova. Kari- 
tena, on a high precipitous mountain, commanding the upper 
valley of the Alpheus, and the plain of Megalopolis, in Arka- 
dia, the seat of one of the bravest and most turbulent knights. 
The walls of the castle and towers are still standing, and the 
view from the battlements is magnificent. Karitena was the 
birthplace of the late Kolokotronis.*°' Veligosti, on the site of 
the present Leondari, protected the roads from Messenia and 
Sparta to Megalopolis and Tegea. Gratzina, Androussa, 
and Kalamata, secured the fertile plains of Messenia. The 
latter fortress, situated at the foot of Mount Taygetus, near 
the Messenian gulf, was the hereditary fief of the Villehar- 
doins ; William, called Kalamatas, the third Prince of Morea, 
was born and died there in 1277. The strong castle of Pas- 
sava, on the Laconic gulf, was an advanced post, established in 
the heart of Maina (Mani), to tame the Greek mountaineers 
(196) of the wild and barren range that runs out into the sea, 
to the south of the highest summits of Taygetus. This im- 
portant border-castle was intrusted to the Baron of Passava, 
the hereditary marshal of Achaia, who held it occupied by a 
permanent body of troops. Leftrd (Leuctron), on the Messe- 
nian gulf, and Mani, near the Tsenarian promontory, were 
castles built in 1248, by William Villehardoin, to complete 
the subjection of the Maniotes. Thus cut off from all com- 
munication with their brethren, the Tzakonians, on the east- 
ern range of Mount Malea, and with the Sclavonian Melingi 
and Ezeritae of the Laconian valley, by the garrisons of the 
three fortresses, and by the galleys of the Prince, and exposed 
to starvation on their barren rocks, the Maniotes submitted 
to the Prankish dominion ; they offered to pay tribute and to 
furnish a contingent of light-armed troops ; but they demand- 
ed and obtained exemption from the feudal service, and it 
was stipulated that no Prankish barony should be established 
within their limits. 

The crusaders, on their first advance into Laconia in 1210, 
had met with serious resistance at Lacedamon, the populous 
and strongly fortified Byzantine city, situate near the Eurotas, 
on the site of the ancient Doric Sparta. After the most vio- 
lent assaults during five days, the French knights at last 
broke into the city, sword in hand, and the humane Geoifrey 
of Villehardoin, the bailiff of the principality had some diflS- 
culty in putting a stop to the slaughter of the brave and un- 
happy citizens. 

Struck with the beauty of the scenery and the strength of 
the position. William of Villehardoin, the third Prince of Mo- 
rea, some years later (1248), after the complete subjugation 
of the peninsula, chose his residence in the neighborhood of 
Sparta, on a high rock in the most picturesque situajiion, at 
the base of Mount Taygetus. There he built a large and 
strong castle, with all the gothic magnificence of turretted 
walls, extensive courts, and a high central fortress donjon 
(keep), where he took up his permanent habitation. It was 
called Misithra, or Mistras, by the Greeks, who, following 
the example of their sovereign, removed from the low hills of 
old Sparta, and built their new central city around the protect- 
ing castle of Mistras. From the precipices and deep chasms 
of Mount Taygetus, several copious springs descend toward 

^^^ On apperfoit do loin I'Alphee et le chateau de Caritena, fief du 
chevaleresque baron de Caritena, assis sur la montagne comme une cou- 
ronne de comte, avec ses creneaux pour fleurons. Ce chateau a un as- 
pect fier et feodal ; il a conserve jusqu'a ces derniers temps la renom- 
me de sa force ; car Ibrahim-Pasha n'a pas ose entreprendi-e d'y atta- 
quer Colocotroni qui s'y etait refugie. Buehon : Grece Continentale et 
la Mor'ee ; Paris, 1844 ; pages 476, 477. 



SEVENTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1096-1300. MOREA— VENICE. 



m 



the plain, where they irrigate the orange and lemon gardens, 
the olive and mulberry groves, for miles, extending through 
the valley of the Eurotas, and render fhe holloiu Laconia 
one of the most beautiful and fertile regions in Greece."^" Mo- 
don (Methone), in southern Messenia, belonged to Venice, ac- 
cording to the treaty of Constantinople, and William of Ville- 
hardoin ceded Coroii, on the Messenian gulf, to those grasp- 
ing republicans, on their furnishing him with four war- 
galleys to support the siege of Nauplion and Monembasia, the 
only maritime cities still in the hands of the G-reeks. Their 
surrender, and the submission of the mountaineers, completed 
the final conquest of all Peloponnesus by the Franks, in 1248. 
At that period, William of Villehardoin was the most re- 
spected and powerful prince in the East. He not only pos- 
sessed with sovereign sway the Peninsula, but on the north, 
the Duke of Athens, by the cession of Argos, Nauplia and 
Corinth, acknowledged himself his liegeman, while the Count 
of Bodonitza at Thermopylre, and the feudatories of Euboea, 
followed his banner, and the Duke of Naxos, with his fleet, 
protected the ^gean and the coasts of Morea from the piracies 
of the Turks. Order and tranquillity reigned in the interioV 
of his fertile and beautiful dominions. The Greeks were 
busily occupied with their commerce and agriculture ; the 
Sclavonians of Skorta and Sclavochori were pacified and taken 
into pay by government. The French barons and knights, 
comfortably established in their castles beneath the beautiful 
sky of Greece, soon found there a new and pleasant home, 
which made them even so far forget the old that they called 
themselves after the Greek names of their estates ; thus, 
for instance, Hugh de Brienne became Lord of Caritena ; 
Robert de Tremouille, Lord of Chalandritza ; Ralph, Lord of 
Kalavryta ; John, Lord of Passava, and so others. Geoffrey 
II. married Agnes, the daughter of the Latin Emperor, Peter 
of Courtenay, and the barons imitating the example of their 
sovereign, sent to France for their brides, sisters and families, 
and soon old Peloponnesus became so changed that it was 
called " la jeune France.'''' Not only the French crusaders 
found a new field for activity in the East ; even the Greeks 
themselves began to take up chivalrous habits; they became 
familiar with French minstrelsy, they tuned their harps to the 
songs of daring deeds, and lady-love, and their chroniclers 
sang in artless but spirited verses the wars of the crusaders 
in the Morea. 

The prosperous state of the French principality in the 
Peninsula was, however, of short duration. The feudal 
system, and the warlike manners of western Europe, could not 
strike deep roots in the East. Without the slightest know- 
ledge of the classical antiquity of Greece, or any sympathy 
for its modern Greco-Sclavonian population, the Latin barons 
considered the country as a conquest, which could only 
be maintained by dint of the sword ; while the Greeks, op- 
pressed by the continual civil feuds of their masters, soon 
discovered the real weakness of the foreign government, and 
turned their hopes towards the rising Empire of Nic^a. Some 
few Romanic elements had penetrated the mixed population 
of Morea, and the Moreotes had taken a tincture of the civili- 

"*" After the defeat aud capture of William Villehardoin, at Per- 
lepi, in Macedonia, in 1259, and the surrender of Laconia to Michael 
Palaeologus, Mistras became the seat of the renewed Greek govern- 
ment in the Morea, and several beautiful Byzantine churches and con- 
vents, built at that time, attest to the tasteful architecture of the Greeks, 
during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and the wealth and im- 
portance of Mistras, the residence of the Palaeologian princes, or Des- 
pots of the Morea. In ISSY, while some repairs were undertaken in the 
French castle, a complete suit of armor, with iron greaves, and a knight's 
helmet, was discovered, which was presented by the modern Spartans to 
King Otho, during a subsequent visit of the Koyal Couple to the city. 



zation of the Franks ; but it soon disappeared during the 
storms of the Turkish wars, and thus the ruinous castles, the 
popular traditions, and a few chronicles and dialectical forms 
in the modeim Greek language, are at present the only relics 
that have survived the conquests of the crusaders in Greece. 

William of Villehardoin imprudently joined the Despot of 
Epirus, Michael IL, in his war against the Greek Emperor 
of Nicaea. With his whole feudal force he entered the high- 
lands of Macedonia, where, abandoned by the Epirote and his 
light-footed Albanians, the French chivalry was surrounded 
by the Greek army of Michael VIII. Palaeologus and his 
allies the Kumans, and suffered a total defeat in the defiles of 
Ferlepi (Prilapon). The Prince of Morea fled in disguise, 
but being captured at Castoria, was carried in triumph to 
Nicaea, and could only obtain his release by surrendering 
three of the most important fortresses of his principality — 
Monembasia, Misithra, and Maina — into the hands of the 
Emperor Michael, who, in the mean time, had reconquered 
Constantinople, and put an end to the Prankish Empire of 
Romania. As soon as the Imperial standard appeared on 
the coast of Morea, the Greeks arose against their foreign 
masters, and though the knights defended every inch of 
ground with the most exalted valor, and often routed the 
disorderly bands of the Greeks, they could not defend their 
isolated castles in so mountainous a region, and were driven 
into the western and northern parts of the Peninsula. There, 
in the plain of Elis, and in the strongholds of Achaia and 
Argolis, they still maintained themselves under the suzerainty 
of the Kings of Naples during the fourteenth century, until 
the Osmanli Turks, in the fifteenth, put an end to their do- 
minion in the Morea.'" 

XL Oriental Conquests of Venice. 

359. Extent and Organization of her Colonjes. 
Towards the middle of the thirteenth century the Venetian 
Republic (272-323) had extended her conquests in the Archi- 
pelago, and possessed the following colonies and territories : — • 
I. A fortified quarter in the city of Constantinople, with 
the suburbs of Pera and Galata on the northern shore of the 
Golden Horn."^'^ II. The Duchy of Kallipolis, comprising 
the Thracian Chersonese, with the cities of Kallipolis, Rho- 
doatos, Herakleia^ and several ports on the opposite coast of 
Asia Minor. III. The southwestern district of the Pelo- 
ponnesus, with the strongly-fortified cities of Karon and 
Modon. IV. The Duchy of Crete (Candia), with the cities 
of Canea, Rettuno, Candia, Sfa/cia, and Mirabella on the 
coast, and San Bonifazio in the interior. This splendid isl- 
and had been purchased of the Marquis of Montferrat, and 
became an important settlement for the Venetian nobility. 
The rich lands were divided into one hundred and thirty-two 
knights' fiefs, and four hundred and eight sergeants' tenures, 
all held with military tenure. The Venetian Nobili formed 
the High Council, at the head of which stood the Captain- 
General of the army. V. The County of Negroponte (island 
of Euboea), with the strong fortress of Chalkis on the strait 
of Euripos — opposite to BcEotia, and the cities of Oreos, 

'" History of the Morea during the Middle Ages, by Prof. Falmerayer, 
Vol. IL, and the admirable sketch of the Prankish dominion in the 
Peninsula, by Prof. Ernst Curtius, in his Peloponnesos, Vol. I., Go ha, 
185L Important hints and topographical descriptions are likewise 
found in Dr. Louis Ross's Reiseiiund Reiserouten im Peloponnes, Berlin, 
184L 

'"" This important central emporium for their commerce the Vene- 
tians lost, when, in 1261, Michael Palaeologus, with the aid of the 
Genoese, expelled the Pi-anks from Constantinople, and granted to that 
hated I'ival of Venice the ports and privileges which she formerly had 
possessed in Greece. 



m 



SEVENTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1096-1300. NAXOS— RHODES. 



Astura and Karystos. Under the government of Negroponte 
ranged the smaller islands Skyros, Skiathos, Skopelos, Cheli- 
dromi, Keos (Zia), on the southern coast of Attica, together 
with jEgina and Salamis in the Sarouic Gulf, and Cerigo 
(Cy there) under the frowning promontory of Cape Malea, in 
the Morea."'= 

At the time of the Latin conquest of Constantinople, the 
Venetian Republic was not populous and strong enough to 
take possession of the numerous islands which had been as- 
signed to it in the'*' partition of the Greek Empire. The 
Senate, therefore, permitted the Venetian nobles to fit ovit 
expeditions for the occupation of the islands, reserving only 
the sovereignty to the mother state. In consequence of this 
permission many maritime expeditions took place ; thus 
Stampalia was occupied by the Quirini ; Andros, by Marino 
Dandolo ; Tinos, MyJwni, Skyros, Lejnnos, Chios and Samos. 
by the Ghisi ; Keos, by Giustiniani ; but the most brilliant 
conquest was that of the Cycladian Islands, by the distin- 
guished nobleman Mark Sanudo, in 1207, who, as Duke of the 
Archipelago, soon became independent of the Republic of 
Saint Mark. 

360. The Ionian Islands belonged during this period to 
small dynasties of Frankish nobles, who had sprung up during 
the crusades, and claimed the protection either of the Kings 
of Naples or the Despots of Epirus. Za7ite (the ancient 
Zakynthos), Ceplialonia, Itaka, and Santa Maura (Leu- 
kadia), were, during the fourteenth century, held by the 
Beneventine family of Tocco, which, by marriage into the 
Greek dynasty of Arta, had inherited Akarnania, ^tolia, and 
part of southern Epirus, and called themselves Dukes of Leu- 
kadia and Desjiots of Arta. Charles Tocco was the last des- 
pot ; the Turks drove him from loannina and ^tolia in 1431, 
and his son, Leonardo II., lost Leukadia and Cephalonia in 
1469. Corfu (Corcyra), the most important of the Ionian Is- 
lands, both on account of its fertility and position at the mouth 
of the Adriatic Gulf, remained long under the supremacy of 
the Kings of Naples, until it, in 1386, was conquered by the 
Venetians. 

XII. Duchy of Naxos or of the Archipelago, 120.7-1566. 

361. Extent, Constitution and Dynasties. The easy con- 
quest of Naxos by Mark Sanudo and his Venetian adventurers 
in 1207 was followed by that of the other Cycladian islands. 
Faros, Antiparos, Amorgos, Siplinos, Kimolos, Milos, Polikan- 
dros, Nio, Santorini (Thera), and Anaphi recognized his sway 
and were distributed as fiefs among his knights. Naxos, the 
gem of the Grecian islands, became the ducal residence ; the 
opposite Pares, with its excellent harbors of Santa Maria and 
of Farecchid, was the naval station for his galley fleet. In 
Naxos the active and intelligent Mark Sanudo built a magni- 
ficent castle, with twelve strong towers, on the high hill above 
the Greek metropolis on the northwestern coast. The natives 
obtained favorable terms from their conqueror ; he guaranteed 
them the possession of their property and lands, and they con- 
tinued to enjoy their privileges and the exercise of the Grecian 
rites of their Church. Sanudo received the ducal title from 
the Latin Emperor of Constantinople, which he left, together 
with his consolidated and beautiful duchy, to his successors, 
in 1220.'" 

'" The smaller isles Poros (Kalauria), Idra (Hydrea), and Spetsa 
(Typavenos), under the coast of Avgolis, seem not to have been per- 
manently occupied by the Venetians. They served as a refuge to the 
Albanians (Avnauts), when their country, after the death of George 
Castriotis, was invaded by Mohammed 11., in 1470. See the Memoir 
on Hydra, by Antonios Miaulis, Munich, 1834 (in modern Greek). 

"* Six dukes of the family Sanudo followed until 1307. The family 



It would appear strange that the reviving Greek Empire 
of the Palaeologi, who reconquered the greater part of Greece 
from the Franks and Asia Minor from the Turks, should have 
permitted 'the Dukes of Naxos to sit quietly on their usurped 
throne of the iEgean islands ; yet we can discover the cause of 
this remarkable longevity of the Frankish principality, not only 
in the great talents and native valor of the dukes of the fami- 
lies of Sanudo and Dalle Carceri, but likewise in the powerful 
protection awarded them by the Pope, and the Venetian Re- 
public, who with her fleets sustained the monopoly of her 
eastern commerce for two centuries victoriously against 
Genoese, Greeks, and Turks."^ 

XIII. Possessions of the Military Order of the Hos- 
pital OF Saint John, 1310-1522. 

362. Conquests. The Mamlukes of Egypt having obtained 
possession of the kingdom of Jerusalem in 1291, the Knights 
of Saint John sought a refuge in Cyprus, where the Knights 
Templars already had large estates and castles; and King 
Henry II. of Lusiguan now likewise invested the former v/ith 
the town and castle of Limisso (348). Yet the enterprising 
warriors, less corrupted than the Templars, who at that time 
returned to Europe only to meet destruction, sought a new 
sphere of activity by the conquest of Rhodes in 1310. That 
delightful island had remained in the possession of the Genoese 
family of Gavala during the thirteenth century, and then de- 
volved on the Greek Emperors of Constantinople. But dur- 
ing the weak and turbulent reign of Andronicus the Youngei-, 
Turkish and Arab corsairs from the coasts of Asia Minor and 
Syria had established themselves on the island, united with 
the Greek inhabitants, and extended their piratical expeditions 
over the adjacent islands of the JEgean. Thus the Knights 
Hospitallers found it easy, with the support of the Pope, to 
assemble a large crusading army of German and Italian war- 
riors at Brindisi, whom they transported to the East on 
a Neapolitan fleet. The Crusaders united with the Knights 
of Saint John, and, defeating the Saracens on the sea, landed 
suddenly at Rhodes. They then stormed gallantly its strongly 
fortified capital under the command of the Grand Master 
Fulco de Villaret, and carried it, sword in hand, on the day 
of the A^irgin — August 15th, 1310. Lindos and the other 
cities in the island surrendered ; but it was not until after 
an obstinate warfare of four years, that the order could ex- 
tend its dominion over the surrounding Archipeiago of smaller 
isles, Syme, Clialkis, Lero, Nisyros, Kulymnos, Kos, and the 
fortress of Budriiu (Halicarnassus) on the mainland of Caria. 
The kniglits of Rhodes held likewise the fortress Ak-Liman 
and the island of Daran on the coast of Isauria, and their 
castles in Cyprus, Avhich they furnished with garrisons, and 
defended gloriously against the attacks of the Ottoman Turks, 
for more than two centuries remaining the bulwark of Christen- 
dom in the Levant."'" 

These were the States of Latin Organization which arose 

Dalle Career! from Negroponte then inherited the duchy by marriage. 
But the third duke, IS'icoolo Dalle Carceri, lost the duchy and his life 
in revenge of a terrible crime he had committed on an innocent Greek 
maiden. The Greek Arehons, led on by the intriguing nobleman Fran- 
cesco Crispo, surprised and stabbed the duke at his hunting castle, 
Paratrecho, in 1381, and the third dynasty of the Crispi maintained 
their independence until the Turkish conquest in 1566. 

"=* Colonel Finlay's Mediceval Greece and Trehizond, pp. 320-50. 

1"" See the description of all those islands in Prof. Louis Ross's 
/aseZreisw, Ttibingen, 1840-50, Vol. l.-V. (we quote from memory); 
and for the conquest of Rhodes our articles, A day on Rhodes, in the 
New-York Knickerbocker, October and November, 184(3. 



SEVENTH PERIOD.— A. D. lOJG-lSOO. ASSASSINS— MAMLUKES. 



119 



in the East during the period of the crusades. The Latin 
empire of Romania, the kingdoms of Thessalonica and Jeru- 
salem, and the principalities of Antioch, Edessa and Tripolis, 
were short-lived, and perished during the thirteenth century. 

Of the rest, the kingdom of Armenia and the principality 
of Achaia (Morea) became extinct in the following century, and 
only the states under Venetian protection and the duchy of 
Athens survived the destruction of the Byzantine empire in 
1453. 

B. MOHAMMEDAN AND SLAVO-GRECIAN STATES DURING 
THE CRUSADES. 

363. GrENERAL REMARKS. We shall here give a glance 
at the Mohammedan, Grecian, and Slavonian States which rose 
in the East during the Crusades and on the expulsion of the 
Latins from their short-lived conquest. These were seven, 
viz. : I. The State of the Assassins. II. The Empire of 
the Eyubids and the Baharid Mamlukes in Syria and Egypt. 
III. The Kingdom of Bulgaria. IV. The Kingdom of 
Servia. V. The renewed Byzantine Empire of Niccea and 
Constantinople. VI. The Despotat of Epirus. VII. Duchy 
of Wallachia. VIII. The Comnenian Empire of Trebizond. 

I. State of the Assassins. 

364. Origin, Organization and Extent. The enthu- 
siasm of the crusaders was met in the East by a similar ex- 

• citement, which gave birth to societies formed in the spirit of 
Mohammedanism, and springing directly from the desire of 
sustaining the cause of Allah and his prophet by the extreme 
of religious fanaticism. Hassan-Ben-Sahab is the mysterious 
reformer — dai — of Islam. He appeared on Mount Lebanon 
after the middle of the eleventh century, preaching the re- 
form with extraordinary eloquence ; but his fiery ambition urged 
him forward beyond the bounds of his mission. As the Imam 
of Mohammed, he proclaimed the second advent of the Pro- 
phet ; he enraptured the masses with his vehement exhortations 
of the austerest observances of Islamism ; he formed a body- 
guard of Fcdavirs or initiated in the mysteries of the advent, 
and occupied Alamut, in the mountains of Dilem. Urged on by 
his ambition, he boldly changed the creed, and proclaimed that 
" There ivas no God but God, and that Hassan ivas the Pro- 
phet of God,''^ and at the head of thousands of fanatical follow- 
ers built up his empire extending from the frontiers of Persia 
to the coast of the Mediterranean. Yet it was not a state 
with a united territory. It was only an order of fanatics called 
Hatshesliim, or as the crusaders pronounced it. Assassins, who 
from their numerous strongholds all along the mountains, obey- 
ed the commands of the terrible Prophet, the Sheik al Djebal, 
the Ancient of the Mountain, and kept the people in the most 
fearful subjection to his invisible power. Hassan, in his snow- 
white caftan and turban, the emblem of purity, was the grand 
master of his order of Saracen Knights or Fedavies, who, under 
their three Dais al-Kebir,^'^'' or grand priors, were trained to 
the most extraordinary obedience and self-sacrifice. Fearful, 

''" Malek-Shah, the Sultan of Mossoul, astonished at this far-spreading 
heresy, marched his army against Hassan and sent his envoy to the cas- 
tle of Alamut to enforce submission. The old Slieik of the Mountains, 
surrounded by his Assassins, received the Turk, and beckoning one of 
his followers said: "Stab thyself," — and to another: " Throw thyself 
down from the battlements" — and before the words were pronounced 
his disciples had obeyed him and lay expiring — the one at the feet of the 
Turk — the other, lacerated at the bottom of the precipice ! not only as 
willing but as joyful martyrs to their faith. The terrible old man then 
turned to the trembling envoy : " Go tell thy master what thou hast 
seen, and add, that seventy thousand heroes like these obey my nod." 
The Sultan still advanced, but on seeing, the next morning, a mysterious 
dagger sticking in his pillow, in the most retired part of his tent, he be- 
came so frightened that he ordered the retreat of his army, and left the 
old monster of the mountain to himself. 



almost incredible, were the secret murders of the devoted As- 
sassins. The ministers, the viziers in Bagdad, in Cairo, the 
chieftains in the mountains, the Kaliphs, the Sultans .sur- 
rounded by their courtiers and life-guards,- — Count Raymond 
II. of Toulouse before Tripolis in 1151 — the Marquis Con- 
rad of Montferrat in Acre in 1 192, several kings, distinguished 
prelates, and knights — not only in Palestine, but even in 
Europe — fell beneath the dagger or by the poison of the invis- 
ible Old Man of the Mountain. The terror was so great that 
every demand of the mysterious chief was immediately complied 
with, for the secret members of this Mohammedan Temple 
were every where. Their principal castles were Alamut or 
Vulture's Nest, situated to the north of Casbin on the frontier 
mountains of Dilem, the seat of the Old. Man. Rudbar on 
the west, and Lamsir and Kirdkuh on the northeast of Ala- 
mut, were impregnable fortresses, held by the fanatics. Tab- 
sin (Tubbus), Tun and Kanain, Assassin castles of Kuhis- 
tan in Persia, secured his influence in the east, while the for- 
tresses of Shadeir (Schadiz). near Ispahan, Dirkul and Kal- 
endshan, farther south, extended his authority toward the 
west. Thus a chain of strongholds brought the Sheik in com- 
munication with his most important possessions, those of the 
district of the Ismaelites (279) on Mount Lebanon between the 
principality of Antioch and the county of Tripolis. Here -the 
treacherous Assassins or Ismaelites possessed the castles of ilfas- 
yad, Kehef, Kadmus and Szafita, in the highest range of the 
mountain, and the still more important Balanea, Banias (Va- 
lenia) on the sea-coast, which in its strong position among pre- 
cipitous rocks cut off the communication between the Chi'istian 
States. At Alamut and Masyad were the luxuriant gardens 
concealed by high walls, where the young fedavies, intoxicated 
with hashish,'^^^ were carried to taste the joys of paradise (as 
they were made to believe), and were thus rendered willing to en- 
counter death in order to secure a permanent seat in that abode 
of bliss. Under the Sheik stood, \st, the thvee Dais al-Kebir 
(grand priors of the order) ; 2d, the Dais or initiated masters ; 
3d, the Refeeks, or companions ; 4th, the Fedavies, or devo- 
ted ; 5th, the Laseeks, aspirants or novices, and lastly the mul- 
titude of the profane people. The fundamental maxim of the 
creed, which separated the secret doctrines of the initiated As- 
sassins from the austere public tenets of the mass of the com- 
mon people, was most carefully preserved, and the people were 
held to the strictest injunctions of the Koran. The East did 
not detect the motive power of the Assassins' Chief; the trem- 
blino- multitudes only saw the poniard strike those who had of- 
fended the Envoy of the invisible Imam himself, the forerun- 
ner of the Great Prophet, who was expected to arrive in power 
and glory to assert his dominion on earth. The eastern 
branch of the Assassins was destroyed by the Mongols during 
the invasion of Hulagu in 1258. In Syria they continued to 
alarm the crusaders for fourteen years longer, until their 
strongholds, Masyad and Banias, were besieged and taken by 
Bibars, the Mamluke Sultan of Egypt, and the rest of the As- 
sassins fled into the higher ranges of the mountain, where they 
still possess a mystical religion and live under the name of 
the Ismailiyeh. 

II. Empire of the Eyubids and Mamluke Sultans. 

365. Extent and Dynasties. — The great Salah-ed-Din, 
the son of Eyub (1137-1192), laid in 1174 the foundation of 
the vast empire of the Eyubids, on the ruins of the Latin king- 
dom of Jerusalem. The pious and generous Sultan discover- 
ed that the Christian fanaticism could only be vanquished by 
a similar enthusiasm among the Mohammedans. But his chiv- 
alrous heart despised the dagger of the Assassins, and he joy- 

'""Hashish was nn intoxicating beverage distilled from linseed. 



120 



SEVENTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1096-1300. EaYPT— BULGARIA. 



fully brandished the scimetar of the Mamluke. Both Turks 
and Arabs had become degenerated ; they could no longer re- 
sist the flower of European chivalry. It was the hardy sons 
of Mount Caucasus and of Koordistan, who, by a particular 
drill, were to form the strength of his army. Carried away 
from their home in tender age by Syrian merchants, the young 
Circassians were trained to arms under the proud name of 
Mcunlnkc. Without relatives or a native country they form 
ed the body-guard of their chief, with the brightest hopes of 
rank and advancement ; they mounted the fleetest steeds of 
Arabia ; the finest armor, the best tempered weapons adorn- 
ed their handsome persons, and beneath their yellow standards 
the Mamlukes became the most formidable cavalry of Eastern 
warfare. At the head of these troops Salah-ed-Din extended his 
empire from the frontiers of Armenia along the Euphrates to 
Arabia, Egypt and westward along the sea-coast to Barka, 
on the outskirts of the Libyan desert. Damascus was his 
capital, and there he died in 1 192.'"' His vast dominions 
were again divided, and underwent many revolutions, until the 
revolt of the Baharid Mamlukes against the last Eyubid 
Sultan, in 1250, brought the power into the hands of these 
wild and homeless warriors. Sultan Bibars reconquered 
Antioch, Tripolis, and the greater part of Syria, in 1260- 
1277, and Sultan Chalil (1290-1294) expelled the Christians 
from their last possessions in Acre, Beirut and Tyre. Thus 
began in the East the long, barbarous, and lawless rule of 
the Caucasian adventurers ; Syria and Palestine were totally 
devastated, the Christian monuments burned and destroyed, 
and misery brought over the decimated population, while 
Egypt became prosperous by her manufactures and commerce. 
Sultan Kelawun concluded treaties of commerce with Aragon 
and Venice in 1289. The G-enoese had their consuls and em- 
porium in Alexandria. Egyptian industry consisted princi- 
pally in paper, carpets, and excellent linen. Agriculture was 
flourishing and occupied three hundred thousand /e//a/;s (peas- 
ants). 

The Mamlukes did not degenerate ; new bands of gallant 
youths from Mount Caucasus replenished their numbers every 
year ; they formed a. military aristocracy, whose chiefs were 
the counsellors of the Sultan and his vizier ; the great Kadi 
administered justice, assisted by the kadis of the principal 
sects, who all united in electing the Sultan. The revolutions 
of the throne were frequent ; seldom did a son follow his fa- 
ther, generally the handsomest or the bravest of the Mamluke 
cavaliers ; their life was entirely military ; they lived merrily 
on the fat of the land, without any foreign war until the storm 
of the Mongol invasion of Tamerlane in 1 400, and the reduc- 
tion of Egypt, by Sultan Selim and his Osmanli Turks, in 
1517. 

366. Divisions, Cities, and Historical Places. Egypt — 
Missr — performed an important part during the crusades. The 
Kings of Jerusalem were alternately enemies or allies of the 
Fatimid Kaliphs against the Turks; and it was in the luxury 
and voluptuousness of Cairo, that the Templars, during the cam- 
paign of King Amalric, for the first time laid aside the auster- 
ity of their deportment, and contracted those eastern vices 
which later, fostered within their convent walls, caused the 
accusation and destruction of their order. By the general igno- 
rance of geography in that time, the most exaggerated ac- 
counts of the wealth and splendor of the Great Soldan of 
Babylon (the Kaliph of Cairo), and the fertility of Babylonia 

'°°The sepulchral monument of Salah-ed-Din, forms a large irregular 
building of white and black marble, with many cupolas and lofty arched 
windows covered with gilt inscriptions. It stands in the Berwisk street, 
on the caravan route to Jerusalem and Mecca ; but though it is still 
devoutly visited by the Moslem pilgrims it is rapidly falling in ruins, 
See our articles",^?) Excursion to Damascus and Baalbek," in the 
Atnericaii Review foi' August and Sc]itembcr, 1848. 



or Egypt, were circulated throughout Europe, and gave rise 
to those ill-planned expeditions of the Hungarians in 1218, 
and of Saint Louis in 1248, which terminated in the de- 
struction of thousands of brave but ignorant Christian war- 
riors. Egypt was then divided into, I. Missr. Dakhiliat, 
Inner or Upper Egypt, with the cities, Kosus, Ashmuni, Den- 
dera, Esnek^ Assuan, and Koseir, on the coast of the Red 
Sea; II. Rif, or Middle Egypt, with Kahira- — the Victorious — 
Cairo, or Dabyhn, on the eastern bank of the Nile, the capi- 
tal of the Kaliphs and Eyubid Sultans; Men/ (Memphis), 
Bulak, Bclbeis, and Ain-Shames (Ueliopolis), where the 
crusaders, as auxiliaries of the Kaliph, in a brisk battle, for the 
first time crossed swords with the brilliant young Salah-ed-Din 
and the Koordish warriors, the Mamlukes; III. Dschuf — 
Garbieh, the Delta, or Lower Egypt, surrounded by the 
three branches of the Nile and the Mediterranean. On the 
coast were situated the thriving cities, Sca/nderoon (Alexan- 
dria), Rashid (Rosetta), and Damanhur, on the Alexandrian 
canal. Eastward, on the Fatimetichva.vi(ih of the Nile, and the 
BaJir Tenis (Lake of Menzaleh), lay the celebrated Damiat 
(Damietta), the bulwark of Egypt, a mile from tlie sea-coast. 
The city was then the great emporium of Eastern traffic, with 
splendid mosques, rich bazaars, and a numerous popula- 
tion. It was surrounded by triple walls, and towers of great 
strength. Other towers in the river defended the approach 
from the Nile. Yet the valor and enthusiasm of the Chris- 
tians vanquished all these obstacles, and the desperate resist- 
ance of the Saracens. Damietta was taken, after a siege of 
seventeen months, in 1219, and an immense booty made; but 
it was soon lost again by the arrogance of the Cardinal Pela- 
gius and the superior tactics of Sultan Melik Khamel, who 
totally destroyed or captured the Christian army among the 
swamps of Mansourah, and forced them to purchase their re- 
lease by the surr-ender of Damietta and the evacuation of 
Egypt. The same fate awaited Saint Louis, of France, and 
his brilliant army, in 1248; and the unhappy city, after so 
many vicissitudes, was finally razed by the Mamlukes for fear 
of a third invasion, in 1250.'^" 

III. WaLLACHO-BuLGARIAN KiNGDOJt. 

367. Extent, Constitution, and Cities. During the re- 
volutions of the Byzantine Empire, under the Angeli, the Bul- 
garians threw ofi' the yoke in 1186, and sustained their inde- 
pendence for two centuries, until they, together with their 
neighbors the Servians, were defeated by Sultan Murad at 
Kossowa, in 1389, and became incorporated in the Turkish 
empire in 1392. The Wallacho-Bulgarian kingdom ex- 
tended along the Danube, from the shores of the Black Sea 
westward to the river Timok, and was on the south bordered 
by Mount Haemus. The principal cities were : Ternowa (sit- 
uated on a hill, surrounded by gardens, on the banks of the 
river Jantra, the residence of the Bulgarian kings, and the see 
of the primate of the Latin church), Nicopolis, Bidin (Wid- 
din), Dristra (Silistria), on the Danube, Varna and Salata 
on the Pontus, and Triaditza (Sofia), beneath the celebrated 
defile, Claustira Sancti Basilii, on Mount Hasmus. The 
Bulgarians extended their sway south of that mountain, along 
the river Ilebrus, but without permanent possession. The 
Khans obtained the royal title from the Pope, yet their power 
was restricted by the council of the Boyars or nobles. Diets, 
comitia, were held ; the country was divided into thirty Sta- 
rosties, each defended by fortresses and castles. While the 

'■"' The modern city lies sevevcal miles in the interior. For these 
events, see the graphic description of the sieges in Michaud's Histoire 
dcs Croliades, livres XII. and XIII., and Mills, pages 197-218, in the 
Philadelphia edition. 



SEVENTH PERIOD A. D. 1096-1300. SLAVO-GRECIAN STATES. 



121 



Bulgarians followed the Greek Church they had a patriarch 
and ten bishops ; later, when they passed over to the Latin 
ritual, their Primas resided in Ttrnotva, and their prelates re- 
ceived the pallium in Rome. Among the many heretical 
sects were the Bogomiles^ the Beloved of God, whose doc- 
trines spread through the West, where they were called Btil- 
stari (Bougres). The laws of the Bulgarians were cruel, and 
their manners barbarous, though Christianity exerted its influ- 
ence, and their kings, by frequent marriages with Byzantine 
princesses, became more polished and kept a brilliant court. 
The Bulgarians fought mostly on horseback (195), with bows 
and arrows, sabre and lance. Their banners were horse-tails 
fixed on spears, until the Pope gave them the Christian stan- 
dard of the cross- They wore the flowing Eastern garments, 
and large turbans, and their general gatherings, headed by their 
Boyars, made a brilliant show. King Assan II. built a fleet 
on the Danube, which placed him in direct communication 
with the Russians. The Bulgarian merchants enjoyed pecu- 
liar privileges in Constantinople, where they had their own 
bazaars and depots. Some of their princes were men of 
learning. Alexander (1330-1353) published a Slavic trans- 
lation of the Byzantine historian, Constantine Manasses, with 
elegant paintings ; but the Boyars, with all their pomp and 
luxury, remained uninstructed, and the clergy only made much 
progress in learning. 

IV. Kingdom of Servia. 

368. The Great Yjitpan of Servia had received the royal 
crown from the Pope in 1222 (325), and ruled his spirited and 
handsome people, the Servians and Rascians (Raitzi), as an 
independent king or ^ra^. Servia contained, \, Branizowa, 
on the Danube ; 2, Sliupa, on the east, in the valley of the 
Morava; 3, Kossoiva, on the south, in the upper valley of Mount 
Scardus: 4, Rascia, northwest, on the frontiers of Bosnia 
(Rama) ; and 5, Ze7it.a, the coast-land on the Adriatic, from the 
Drinus and the Lake of Skodra, northward to the Republic of 
Ragusa. The brilliant period of the Servian nation, their 
conquests, political influence, laws, and poetry, was the middle 
of the fourteenth century, under their great king, Stephen 
Douschan (1333-1356). Rassa (Novi Bazar), at the foot of 
the Dinarian Alpes, was the residence of the Krai, 

369. Ragusa (139) in its advantageous position had be- 
come a thriving commercial republic, which iinder a strong 
aristocratic government already rivalled Venice in trade and 
manufactures ; it possessed the Dalmatian and Bosnian mines, 
and its citizens were active, wealthy and chivalrous. Ragusa 
produced poets, engineers, painters and historians, and merited 
the title of the Slavo-lllyrian Athens. 

V. The Greek Empire of Niczea and Constantinople. 

370. Limits, Restoration of the Capital and Con- 
quests. — Theodore Lascaris had saved the Greek Empire by 
hoisting his banner in Prusa as a rallying point for all the 
faithful. A victorious reign of eighteen years expanded his 
principality to the magnitude of an empire. Lascaris recon- 
quered and united . again Bitltynia, Mysia, Lydia, Ionia, 
parts of Phrygia, Caria and Paphlagonia, together with 
the islands, Lemnos, Imbros, Tenedos, Lesbos, Chios, and 
Samos, from which he expelled the Ghisi, and other Venetian 
nobles. His successor, the admirable John Dukas Vatatzes 
(1222 — 1255), drove back the Turks and pressed hard upon 
the Latin Knights in Constantinople. That city fell at last in 
1261, and Michael VIII. Palaeologus reunited, toward the 



close of the century, Thrace, Macedonia, Thessaly, and the 
southeastern parts of the Morea with the reviving Byzantine 
Empire. 

371. Genoa, on the Ligurian coast, had in her rivalry 
with Venice given as strenous an aid to the Greek Emperor 
of Nicaea, as Venice had done to the Latin conquerors of 
Constantinople. Genoa therefore was rewarded by the Greek 
emperor with important privileges, exemption from duties, and 
the cession of the suburbs of Pera and Galata, which were for- 
tified by double lines of wall, and that high central tower which 
still forms so conspicuous an object in the scenery of Constan- 
tinople at the present day. Nay, the Genoese even took posses- 
sion of every promontory on the Bosphorus, and thus sought 
to exclude their competitors from the commerce on the Black 
Sea. They occupied the eastern coast of the Crimea, where they 
fortified Gafa, Chercz, Cher son, Bosphorus, and Cembalo, and 
established their commercial depots in Azow at the mouth of 
the Don. Having by extraordinary exertions become the 
domineering nation on the Poutus, they began to arm for that 
tremendous maritime struggle with Venice, which from the 
year 1252 continued almost without interruption to 1382, 
and terminated only with the debilitation and decline of both. 
In the following century Genoa put herself into the posses- 
sion of great part of the Asiatic islands of the iEgean, such 
as Samos, Nicaria, Chios, Psara, Metellino (Lesbos), Stali- 
mene (Lemnos), Imbros, Tenedos, Samothrace, Thasos, and 
the smaller groups. 

VI. Despotat of Epirus. 

372. Extent and Princes. — The portions cf the By- 
zantine Empire situated to the west of the range of Pindus, 
all Epirus, Acarnania and MioYidi,, as well as Lower Macedonia 
and Thessaly (Megali-Vlachia), were saved from the feudal 
dominion by Greek princes, who there maintained themselves 
against the French Crusaders: Epirus was, immediately after 
the conquest of Constantinople in 1204, occupied by the intel- 
ligent Michael Angelos, who, boldly assuming the direction of 
the government of the whole country from DyiTachium to 
Naupactus, on the Corinthian gulf, and gathering a large 
military force, secured the mountainous frontier against the 
Franks, and established his residence at Joannina or Arta. The 
civil government of the Despot of Epirus was a continuation 
of the Byzantine forms. Michael ruled as of right inheriting 
the province; it was a mere change in the name of the govern- 
ment, not a revolution in the condition of the people. It was 
modified, however, by the military character of the wild Al- 
banian Highlanders, who were taken in pay by the Despots, 
and now for the first time make their appearance on the world's 
stage as mercenary soldiers. The Despots extended their con- 
quest to Thessalonica, where they easily defeated the Lombard 
feudatories of the Marquis of Montferrat, and obtained even 
the imperial title. This however was, later, given back to the 
great Vatatzes of Nicasa and the short-lived empire of Thes- 
salonica ceased to exist in the year 1234. Epirus was divided 
in 1308 ; the greater part fell to the share of Thomas Tocco, 
Count Palatine of Cephalonia, and in 1358 King Stephen of 
Servia (364) succeeded in conquering all Epirus, Macedonia 
and part of Thessaly. 

VII. Duchy of Great Wallachia. 

373. Origin and Extent. The Duchy of Great Walla- 
chia — MeyaAij BA.a;(ta — or Nco-Patras, consisted of all Thes- 
saly, Phthiotis, Doris, and part of Phocis. Its capital was 
Hypata — Neai-Patrni (Patraehik), in a strong- position on tin- 

IG 



122 



SEVENTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1096-1300. TliEBIZOND. 



Sperchius. Zeitimi (Lamia), on a spur of the Othrys, with a 
fortress still standing, though in ruins, protected the defile oiAfi- 
dinitza into Thessaly. Annyros, Demetrias (269) and T'b/o, 
■were cities on the coast of the Pagasetic gulf; Thaumaka, Bel- 
estina, Fersala (Pharsalus), Larissa, and Triklce, all situated in 
the fertile plain of the interior, ilfe^sow, on Mount Pindus, 
protected the passage into Epirus, and Tlualasona that into Ma- 
cedonia. This small duchy was founded by John Dukas, who 
proved a traitor to his own brother, Michael II. of Epirus, 
and the Prankish Prince of the Morea, in the battle of Perlepi, 
1259. At the head of his roving Wallachians this daring chief 
obtained full possession of Thessalj^ ; he claimed entire inde- 
pendence, and stood at the time of his death, 1290, on equal 
terms both with the Grreek Emperor and the French Princes 
in Greece. The Catalan Freebooters conquered the valley of 
Sperchius, which they united to the duchy of Athens ; but 
Thessaly reverted to the Byzantine Empire, and was govern- 
ed by imperial lieutenants, who afterwards were, by the em- 
peror, honored with the title of Despots. 

VIII. COMNENIAN EMPmE OF Trebizond, 1204-1461. 

374. Origin, Limits, Constitution, and Cities. — At the 
time of the downfall of the Comnenian family in Byzantium, in 
1 185, Thamar, a daughter of the tyrant Andronicus (349), saved 
two of his nephews, Alexius and David Comneni, and fled with 
the children to the coast of Colchis, in Pontus, on the Black 
Sea. There the young princes were hospitably received by the 
Greeks, and when, in 1204, the Byzantine Empire sank before 
the sword of the crusaders, Alexius Comnenus, then a hand- 
some and spirited youth, at the head of his Colchiau Greeks, 
conquered Trebizond, Sinope, and all the coast-lands of Paph- 
lagonia, as far west as the Sangarius, and laid the foundation 
of the Comnenian Empire of Trebizond. This prosperity, 
however, did not last; Sinope was soon lost to the Sultan 
of Iconium, and the more distant conquests on the Sangarius, 
Amastris, Tios, and Herakleia, were reoccupied by the 
Palaeologi of Constantinople. The small Trebizontine State 
thus became circumscribed to the ancient Themes, of 
Chaldia, Koloneia, and part of that of Armenia (264-266). 
Trebizond (Trapezus), on the coast, was the capital. In a 
magnificent situation, with a fertile country around, it wanted 
only a secure port to make it one of the greatest empo- 
riums of eastei-n trafiic.'" Its exports consisted in the rich 
products and manufactures of Asia Minor, the copper of 
Tokat, the brilliant dye-stuffs of Caesarea, variegated car- 
pets, cloth of hair and wool, which in the ships of the Ita- 
lian Republics wei-e conveyed to Alexandria, Marseilles, and 
Spain ; and along the Danube, and to the Tauric Chersonesus, 
from whence they were transported by different routes through 
Russia and Germany to the north of Europe. The city of 
Trebizond, with its extensive suburbs, was strongly fortified 
by several impregnable castles, separated by deep ravines. 
The interior of the town was filled with palaces, public ba- 
zaars, the magnificent churches and convents St. Eugenios, 
the Panaglda Cliriso KepUalos^ and the great cathedral of 
Santa Soplda., in a delightful site on the sea-shore. A 
numerous population inhabited the city and the environs all 
along the coast, where Genoese, Pisans and Venetians had their 
magazines and commercial depots. On the eastern coast were 
situated the flourishing cities Rhizaion, Athenai, Pyxites, and 
Sotiropolis, at the foot of the Mingrelian mountains. The 

"' The city has its name fi-om the trapezoid, or tabular forna of the 
rocky coast on which the fir.%t settlers had established themselves. 
"The southern shores of the Black Sea offer every advantage for main- 
taijiing a numerous population, and tlie physical configuration of the 
counti-y supplies them with excellent natural harriers to defend them 



unruly Lazi, on the river Phasis, were subjects of the Com- 
nenian Emperors, though they often rose in open rebellion. 
On the west lay the cities of Kerasos (23-226), Tripolis, Ze- 
'phyrioji, Oinaioii, and Amisos. In the interior the realm ex- 
tended over the rich plains of Side, Themiskyre, and Meso- 
chaldioji, southward to Zigana, Pylai, and the important 
pass of Ba/iburd, where the high mountain range of Paryades 
separated it from the territories of the Seldjukian Turks of 
Iconium. The Emirs of the Turkmans, the warlike tribes on 
Mount Caucasus, and the Greek Emperor, at Nicsea, were 
thus the natural enemies of the young Comnenian Dynasty, 
while, on the contrary, the crusading barons of Constantinople 
became its allies in their simultaneous efi'orts against Nicjea. 
The approaching invasion of the Mongols brought new dan- 
gers, yet, though both Andronicus I. and Johannes I. 
(1222-1238) were obliged alternately to seek the friendship 
of the Turkish Sultans or Mongol Great Khans, and even to 
pay tribute and render military service to the latter, yet, by 
their prudence, they escaped invasion, and being considered 
more as active chiefs of a mercantile establishment, than pur 
pie-born Princes of an Empire, they were enabled for nearlj' 
two centuries to maintain their independence, and to contri- 
bute their part to the peaceful extension of the world's com- 
merce, and the civilization and happiness of their subjects, and 
the numerous Greek emigrants, who, driven from their Eu- 
ropean home by the advance of the Ottoman Turks, found a 
hospitable reception on the beautiful shores of Trebizond. 

Such was the state of the Eastern World during 
the times of the crusades, when at the middle of the four- 
teenth century, the appearance of the Ottoman hordes in Eu- 
rope brought on new geographical divisions of territory, and a 
change in the political relations of all the lands that came 
within the reach of their swords. 



CHAPTER IX. 
.EUROPE, 

ITS POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY AND INTERNAL CONDITION 
DURING THE PERIOD OF THE CRUSADES, A. D. 1100-1300. 

375. General Remarks. — Great changes, not only in the 
geographical limits but in the institutions, manners, ideas, 
and religious views, had taken place in almost every State of 
Europe during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, while the 
energies of its most prominent nations were directed to those 
conquests and settlements in the East which we have recorded 
in the preceding chapter. Several states, however, took no 
direct part in that movement. Ireland, Scotland, Norway, 
Sweden, Poland, Hungary, and Bnissia were almost entirely 
occupied with those internal organizations, domestic feuds, and 
wars with their neighbors, to which allusion has already been 
made; whilst the revolutions among the states of the Spanish 

on every side. There are few spots on earth richer in picturesque 
beauty, or abounding in more luxuriant vegetation than the south- 
eastern coast of tlie Euxine. The magnificent country that extends 
from the mouth of the Halys to the snowy range of Mount Caucasus is 
formed of a singular union of rich plains, verdant hills, bold rocks, 
wooded mountains, primeval forests, and rapid streams. In this fertile 
and majestic region Trebizond has been for more than six centuries the 
noblest and finest city." See the detailed History of the Trebizontine 
Emperom in Prof. Fallmerayer, and the later work of Col. Finlav, page 
354-498. The modern citv has fifty thousand inhabitants. 



SEVENTH PEEIOD.— A. D. 1096-1300. DENMARK. 



123 



Peninsula remained without political influence on the nations 
beyond the Pyrenees. Our synopsis of the struggle be- 
tween Islamism and Christianity there, and the triumph of 
the latter, may properly be reserved for the closing chapter. 
In consequence, we shall, in the present, draw the atten- 
tion of the student only to those revolutions which promoted 
the extension of religion, civilization and commerce among 
the leading nations of Europe, as the direct consequences of 
their religious wars and the threatened invasion of the 
Mongols. 

The principal events which will occupy us in Europe, while 
the crusades were still continuing with unabated fury in the 
Levant, were the following : — I. The introduction of the 
feudal system into the North, and the crusades of the Saxon 
dukes and Danish kings on the coast of the Baltic. II. The 
conversion and conquest of Prussia by the Teutonic order. 
III. The formation and extension of the Glrand Duchy of 
Lithuania. IV. The subjugation of Kussia by the Mon- 
gols. V. The feudal relations and contests between France 
and England., and the crusades against the Reforming Sec- 
tarians of Southern France. VI. The struggle between the 
German Emperors and the Lombard Republics ; and VII. 
The conquest of Naples by the House of Anjou. 

I. The Kingdom of Denmark, 1157-1375. 

376. Limits and Political Condition. — The spirit of 
feudalism, chivalry, and crusading wars moved slowly towards 
the North, where it produced a total change in the political 
and social relations of Denmark toward the middle of the 
twelfth century. The influence of the clergy rose with that 
of the king and nobility, and the old public assemblies — 
Thinge — where all the freemen, high and low, used to meet for 
consultation, became now transformed into diets — Herredage — 
in which only the clergy and the feudal nobility appeared to 
decide the legislative and political questions of the day. From 
an elective kingdom, Denmark in course of time became an 
hereditary monarchy. The king being still too powerless to 
keep standing armies, formed an efficient cavalry, in iiuitation 
of the G-ermans, by granting estates to barons and knights for 
feudal service on horseback — Rosstjeneste. The larger pro- 
prietors, desirous of partaking the rank and honors of belted 
knights, began to take their allodial possessions as fiefs of the 
crown, while the smaller landholders sank back into a condition 
of poverty and subjection little differing from the serfdom 
of Germany. But this change was gradually introduced, and 
during the brilliant reign of the first kings of the Walde- 
marian dynasty (1 157-1227), the naval expeditions and cru- 
sades of the Danes on the southern coasts of the Baltic still 
sustained the warlike and independent genius of the nation. 
At that time of victory and conquest, the Danish monarchy 
rapidly extended from the frontiers of Sweden to the Lower 
Elbe and the Vistula, embracing the whole of Holstein., 
Vendland., Pomera7iia, the Prussian coast-lands, Estlila/nd., 
and the important islands of Rugen and Oesel. The dismem- 
berment of the duchy of Saxony, by Frederic Barbarossa, 
and the subsequent struggle between the AVelfs and the Ho- 
henstaufens in Germany, facilitated these invasions ; yet a 
small nation, like the Danes, could not permanently support 
these vast and distant expeditions, from which they received 
no material benefit, since they were not able to engraft their 
nationality on the Sclavonian tribes in the same manner as the 
Germans did — by civilization and numerous colonies. The 
treacherous capture of King Waldemar II., at Lyoe, in 1223, 
and the defeats of the Danes at MoUn and Bornhoved, soon 
turned the political scale, and the downfall of Denmark was 
then more rapid than her rise. 



377. Danish Conquests on the Elbe and the Baltic. 

I. The County of Nordalbingia or Holstein, reached 
from the Eider, on the border of the duchy of South Jutland 
(Schleswig), to the Elbe, and included the free imperial cities 
of Liibeck and Hamburg. The county was then divided into 
I. Vagria, on the Baltic, inhabited by the Sclavonian tribes 
of the Obotrites and Vagrians, who had been subdued by Knud 
Lavard, the first duke of Schleswig (294). II. Stormaria, 
south of Vagria, on the Elbe ; and III. Thetmarsia— 
Ditmarsken — the low marshy coast-lands on the west, whose 
inhabitants, the hardy and brave Ditmarskers, founded a small 
republic under the protection of the archiepiscopal see of 
Bremen. Holstein had belonged to the old duchy of Saxony, 
and was erected into a county by the emperor Lothaire II. who 
gave it to the Counts of Schauenburg on the Weser, a family 
alike distinguished by the great statesmen and warriors who 
descended from it. Yet the Danish arms prevailed and 
Holstein remained during thirty years united with the king- 
dom. — Hamburg^ on the Elbe. (174), and Liibeck (225) on the 
Trave, were already commercial cities of great activity. The 
latter was occupied by Henry the Lion as a stronghold against 
the Sclavonians; but it had a greater destiny to fulfil than that 
of becoming a Danish fortress. Its much-lauded constitution, 
or Law of Liibeck — Liihsche Recht — was adopted by a number 
of Low German cities ; and it was after having expelled the 
Danish bailiff and garrison by a stratagem, in 1225, that 
Liibeck founded the celebrated Confederacy of the Hanse 
towns in 1241.''-' — Reinholdsburg (Bendsborg) castle on an 
island in the Eider, where Waldemar the Victorious built a 
bridge to facilitate and secure the march of his armies into 
Germany. — Chiliana, Kyi (now Kiel), situated on a beau- 
tiful bay of the eastern coast, was the most ancient city in 
Holstein, and became, later, a member of the Hanseatic 
League. Segeberg, with a castle on a high chalk-rock, 
was one of the strongest positions of the Danes in Holstein, 
and the fortress served them as a state prison for their 
unruly feudatories. Bornhoved, a small borough on the out- 
skirts of the Kamp or dreary heath-covered plain eight miles 
nortli of Segeberg, was the battle-field on which the fate of 
Denmark was decided on July 22, 1227. Hamburg and 
Liibeck, the Counts of Holstein and Schwerin, prelates and 
feudatories, were here marshalled under the German banner 
against King Waldemar the Victorious. After a stoutly con- 
tested field, when victory again seemed to favor the Danish 
arms, their rear-guard, consisting of Ditmarskers, turned 
treacherously upon them, and they were defeated with fearful 
slaughter. Four thousand Danes covered the plain ; the old 
King Waldemar, thrown down with his steed, and badly 
wounded was saved by an unknown German knight, who 
carried him safely to Kiel. From that day the downfall 
of Denmark followed with fearful rapidity. 

II. The Duchy of Pomerania comprehended all the fer- 
tile lands on the Lower Elbe, eastward to the Vistula, with the 
counties of Ratzeburg, Lauenburg., on the Elbe, Schiverin, 
Miklinburg (Mecklenburg), the principalities of Rugen., 
Werle, and the lordships of Rostock and Parclmn. The strong 
Castle of Schiverin., on the lake, was the residence of the Counts. 
There Count Henry, after the surprise and capture of King Wal- 
demar II. at Lyoe, kept his liege-lord in the most dismal trien- 
nial prison, 1223-1226, in spite of all the exhortations of em- 
peror and pope to procure his release. At Molln, west of the 
former. Count Albert of Orlamiinde, at the head of the Danish 

''■- Au old ehi'oiiicler says about Liibeck, that Denmark caressed 
the hen which laid it a golden egg without foreboding that a basilisk 
woidd be hatched from it." — The name of Hanse — atn See — signifying 
commercial alliance among maritime towns, is older than the league. 
It appears in privileges granted by John Lackland of England to the 
Hamburgers in the twelfth century. 



124 



SEVENTH PEKIOD.— A. D. 1096-1300. DANISH CONQUESTS. 



feudal army, was totally defeated by the CoiTnt of Holstein, 
and carried a prisoner to his unhappy king in the dungeon of 
Schwerin. Jomsborg, on the coast of Wollin, at the mouth of 
the Oder, the celebrated stronghold of the Joms-vikinger 
(295), was reduced and dismantled by King Waldemar I. in 
the year 1170. The principality of the beautiful island of 
KuGEN, with its numerous creeks and bays, deep narrow gulfs, 
high picturesque mountains, boldly projecting promontories, 
and forest-clad valleys, became an important and permanent 
conquest of the Danish arms. Waldemar I. stormed Arcona, 
and destroyed the monstrous idol of Swantevit. Churches and 
schools were built, and the Bishop of Rugen was made suffra- 
gan of Roeskilde, in Sealand. All the Vendic coast-lands 
soon made a remarkable progress toward civilization by the 
introduction of Christianity, and the thousands of German 
colonists, who, by Henry the Lion, were settled on the fertile 
plains of Pomerania. The German nationality gradually got 
the upper hand; the Slavic tribes became Germanized, and, 
after a century and a half, disappeared altogether. Yet, though 
the Danes made frequent descents on the Prussian coast, to the 
east of the Vistula, and took a firm footing in Courland and 
Livonia, they did not penetrate into the interior, but left the 
conversion of the fierce Prussians to the sword and the cross 
of the celebrated military order of the Teutonic knights (339), 
who, after their departure from the coast of Syria, in 1229, 
made their appearance on the Vistula, where they continued the 
great work of conversion during the greater part of the thir- 
teenth century. 

III. The province of Esthoni.i (Esthland) extended along 
the Finnic gulf — Kyriala-Bottu — eastward to the Lake of 
Peipus, and was divided into the districts of Harrien, Rotala, 
Virland, Jerven, Nurmegiind, and Ungannia, with the 
islands of Oesel and Dagoe. The Esthonians belonged to the 
Finnic or Chudish race. They were strong and active, 
cheerful and patient ; and they fought for their heathen god, 
Tharapilla, and their independence, with undaunted bravery. 
King Waldemar II. first occupied the islands in 1210. and 
carried the banner of the cross to the coast of Reval, in 1219. 
Merchants and priests from Bremen, had already begun to 
settle at JJxkitU^ on the river Duna, where they attempted to 
convert the savage Livonians, and built the strongly-fortified 
city of Riga in 1 168. But they found great opposition. Mein- 
hard, the first bishop of Livonia, therefore gathered a body of 
German knights — die Sdiwertritter — who extended the Chris- 
tian religion by their conquests, when King Waldemar II., 
with a fleet of 1400 vessels, in 1219, landed on the coast of 
Harrien, in Esthonia, and built the castles of Reval and 
Narva. In the neighborhood of Reval, at Lyndinissa, the 
Danish camp was surprised, on a dark night, July 15, 1219, by 
myriads of furious heathens, who penetrated, with fearful 
slaughter, to the royal tent. Overwhelmed by numbers, the 
Danes began to retreat ; but the courage of King Waldemar 
soon restored the battle, which terminated with the defeat and 
subjection of the Esthonians.'" Reval, the capital, became a 
flourishing city, and a member of the Hanseatic League. 
Habsul derived its name from the great Absalon, the Arch- 
bishop of Lund, who erected there the first cathedral, in the 
diocese of Oesel, the ruins of which are still seen. At War- 
bola, in Harrien, massive granite walls of one of the ancient 

'"It was at the battle of Lj'udinissa (Wolmar), the legend tells 
us, that a red banner with a white cross, the Danebroge, dropped down 
from the sky to encourage the retreating Danes. The fact seems to be, 
that the Pope, Innocent III., had sent King Waldemar a consecrated 
banner to be used in the holy war. The Order of the Knights of the 
Danebrog was instituted after the conquest of Esthonia; but .the 
sacred standard was lost three centuries later, at the defeat of the 
Danes in Ditmarsken, in a. d. 1500. 



castles, in which the Esthonians defended themselves against 
the Danes and the Teutonic knights, still remain. Esthland 
was an important acquisition. Its ecclesiastical province 
ranged under the see of Lund; but during the civil wars in 
Denmark, which followed on this glorious period, the country, 
in 1346, was mortgaged to the Teutonic Order, and lost for 
ever. 

378. Of all the acquisitions southof the Eider, only the island 
of Riigen, the cities of Stralsund, Tribsees, Earth, Gnoyen, 
Sidtz, and Marlow, in Veudland, remained in the possession 
of the Danish crown. Waldemar II., though now old and van- 
quished, was an active prince ; he turned his attention to 
the internal organization of his realm, and caused a general 
survey of the kingdom to be taken, not unlike the Doomsday 
Book of William the Conqueror, and containing a complete 
account of the royal domains and feudal revenues of the 
crown. This curious statistical document — Librum census 
DanicB — throws much light on the internal economy of Den- 
mark during the thirteenth century. The whole kingdom was 
divided into small maritime districts, called Styresliaviu, 
which furnished each one or more vessels, and a certain pro- 
portion of men for the defence of the coasts, and the equipment 
of expeditions against the Vendish pirates or other public 
enemies. Nortlb Jutland thus furnished 450 ships. Sch/csivig 
supplied an equal number; Fyen and the smaller adjacent 
islands, Laaland and Langeland, were rated at 100 sail ; 
Sealand, Moen, Falster, and Rugen, under the see of Roes- 
kilde, contributed 120 manned vessels ; and Skaane, Hal- 
land, and Blekinge, subject to the Archbishop of Lund, sent 
150 ships. This excellent institution went to decay during 
the civil wars between kings, clergy, and nobility, which en- 
sued, and the coasts were again at the mercy of the pirates, 
or the still more dangerous encroachments of the powerful 
league of the Hanse towns. " For at the death of Walde- 
mar Seier (Victory)," says the Chronicle of King Eric, "per- 
ished Denmark's crown of glory. From that time, wasted by 
intestine wars and mutual dissensions, she became the scorn 
of surrounding nations. Her sons not only lost the lands 
their forefathers had nobly won with sword and lance, but in- 
flicted deadly wounds upon their poor, distracted counti-y, 
miserably embroiled in the quarrels of six contending 
princes." The duchy of Schleswig became now the subject 
of contest between the royal brothers Eric and Abel, the 
sons of King Waldemar II. Abel, Duke of Schleswig, cap 
tured his brother in Schleswig, during a visit, and ordered 
him to be beheaded on a boat in the River Schley, and the 
body sunk. The treacherous Abel fell in battle against the 
free fishermen of the western coast, the Strand-Frisons, in 
1252, and thus one scene of violence followed another, until the 
reign of the weak King Christopher II., when Denmark became 
divided among foreign feudatories ; Count Geert (Gerhard), of 
Holstein, obtained Schleswig as a Danish fief, and all Jutland 
as a mortgage, while Coiint John of Itzehoe, occupied the isl- 
ands, and Sweden claimed the provinces on her frontiers. 
Gerhard, the Great Holsteiner, marched a German army into 
Jutland, in 1340, with the intention of forming a German mo- 
narchy on the ruins of Denmark, but he fell beneath the 
sword of a Jutish nobleman, Sir Niels Ebbeson of Norreriis. 
This event, so celebrated in the Danish annals, took place at 
Randers, where Sir Niels, with sixty-five trusty followers, 
during night, entering the castle, slew the hated tyrant, and, 
escaping in full gallop through the midst of the Germans, 
called the Jutes to ai-ms. They flocked to the banner of their 
deliverer, and, though he fell in the battle of Skanderborg, 
against Iron-Henry, the son of Count Geert, the Danes suc- 
ceeded in driving the invaders out of the country. The ex- 
iled Prince Waldemar, then returning to his native country, 



SEVENTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1096-1300. PRUSSIA. 



125 



ascended the throne of his forefathers, which, after a glorious 
reign of forty years, — 1334-1375, — he left strengthened, and 
consolidated to his great daughter, Queen Margaret, the Semi- 
ramis of the North. 

II. TERPaXORlES OF THE TEUTONIC OllDER IN PllUSSIA 

AND Livonia. 

/ 379. Limits and Tribes. — Ancient Prussia extended 
from the frontiers of Pomerania, west of the Vistula, east- 
ward to the Niemen; and bordered south on the kingdom 
, of Poland and the Upper Vistula. The soil of Western 
Prussia is sandy; heaths are succeeded by marshes, and the 
coast on the Baltic is terminated by downs which, on the 
outskirts of immense pine forests, unite with those in Pome- 
rania. But the country between the Vistula and Memel, 
on the east, is more fertile — it is wood-clad, or studded with 
lakes ; the highest hill is only 506 feet above the level of 
the Baltic. Very remarkable are the large estuaries, the 
Frisic Haf^ and the Curie Haf, which by narrow strips of 
land are separated from the Baltic, with which they, however, 
stand in communication by shallow sti-aits. That low and 
dreary region is inhabited by fishermen, who still call them- 
selves Cures. The climate is tempestuous, and the frail cot- 
tages of this suifering race are often buried under heaps of 
sand. The ancient Borussi, Fruczi, or Prussians (91, 227), 
were of the Lettic tribe, fierce, warlike, but hospitable and 
honest ; they were clad in furs and coarse linen garments ; horse 
flesh and mare's milk were their food ; they loved strong 
liquors, and fought with javelins and lances. In their sacred 
groves they worshipped the sun, the moon, and the stars, with 
horrible rites ; their priests were all-powerful, and their wo- 
men, serfs, arms, and horses, were generally burned on the same 
pile with the deceased chief. None of the Chudish or Lettic 
tribes made so obstinate a resistance against the Christian in- 
vaders as the Prussians. Supported by the Livonians, they 
defeated the. Knights Sword Bearers in 1224, and destroyed mo- 
nasteries and monks; they invaded Poland, and Duke Conrad 
of Mazovia then invited the Order of the Teutonic knights to 
occupy the frontier province of Culm,- on the Vistula, against 
the heathens. The active Grrand Master Herman von Salza sent 
Herman von Balk, with a division of one hundred knights and 
squires, to Poland, where these military monks commenced the 
subjugation of Prussia with a degree of courage that was only 
equalled by their cruelty. They fortified Culm ; built Thorn 
in 1230, and after the most ruthless war and wonderful vicissi- 
tudes of victory and defeat, the military genius of their leaders, 
during fifty-three years, — 1228-1281,— completed this astonish- 
ing conquest of a few thousand knights over the entire Prus- 
sian nation, that for four centuries had resisted the arms of 
Poland. In 1238, the Teutonic Order united with the 
Sword Knights of Livonia, and in 1309, the Grand Master 
Siegfried von Feuchtwangen transferred the seat of the order 
from Venice to Marienburgh, on the Nogat. Strong castles 
were built in every subdued district, and the poor vanquished 
barbarians were compelled to furnish the workmen. Churches 
monasteries, and schools were likewise erected, and the Ger- 
man language was introduced; thousands of heathens were 
converted ; while others fled for protection into Lithuania. The 
Prussian chiefs were admitted to the order of nobility, while 
the people exchanged their state of licentious freedom for 
the most rigid serfdom. Numerous German colonies were set- 
tled by the order ; they built flourishing towns, to which al- 
most republican privileges were granted. Thus were gradu- 
ally formed the three orders of the provincial states, of 
which the diets were composed, the sovereignty remaining in 
the hands of the Teutonic Knights. 

380. Division of the TErauTORiES, Constitution, and 



Government. — A. Prussia consisted of I. Fomerellen, or 
Western Prussia, between the left bank of the Vistula, the 
sea and the frontiers of Pomerania ; II. Culm on the south ; 
III. Pomesania, on the right bank of the river ; IV. Poge- 
sania; V. Galindia ; VI. Ermeland ; VII. Natangen; VIII. 
Samland ; IX. Nadrauen ; X. Sdialaucii ; XL Bartia, and 
XII. Sudauen — all the latter in Eastern Prussia. B. Sza- 
maitia, on the east, was conquered from the Lithuanians, after a 
bloody war, in 1382. C. Courland, a fertile and beautiful 
country, northeast on the Baltic. D. Livonia, in the interior, 
with I. Semgallia, II. the archiepiscopal see of Riga, ex- 
tending far into the interior with the suflragan bishoprics of 
Dorpat, Oesel, Reval, and Courland ; III. the territory of 
the Knights Sword Bearers — Schtoert-ritter — in Central Livo- 
nia. After the union of this order with that of the Teutonic 
Knights, A. D. 1236, the province of Livonia was governed by 
their own general — Heer7neister — who ranged under the Grand 
Master of the United Order in Marienburg. 

E. EsTHONiA (Esthland), the old Danish conquest, (376) 
sold by King Waldeinar IV. to the order in 1 346. Dagbe 
was likewise ceded to the knights, but the larger island of 
Oesel remained with Denmark. 

F; The island of Gothland, on the eastern coast of 
Sweden, with the commercial city of Wishij, which the order 
obtained in 1398 from the light-headed Albrecht of Mecklen- 
burg after his defeat and imprisonment of Queen Margaret. 

G. The Neumark, a part of Brandenburg, east of the 
Oder, mortgaged to the order by the penniless emperor Si- 
gismond in 1402. 

381. All these territories were divided into thirty Com- 
manderies — Comthure — several of which were so large that 
they again became subdivided into Convents of Knights. 

The permanent settlement of the whole order in Prussia 
by the Grand Master Siegfried von Feuchtwangen — tl312 — 
imparted vigor and consistency to this singular religious and 
military society. The general chapter of the order possessed 
the higliest legislative power. The Grand Commanders,— 
Grosscornthure, — the Priors and other ofiicials ranged imme- 
diately under the Grand Master. The commanders held the 
sway in the principal castles of the commanderies. The 
Knights of the Order formed the first state, the native landed 
nobility the second, and the citizens — Bilrger — of the towns 
the third. The German colonists, who during the fourteenth 
century flocked to Prussia, Poland and Hungary in the same 
manner as in the present nineteenth to America and Australia, 
introduced their agriculture and industry; the Prussians 
themselves were a cattle-breeding people; peace and pros- 
perity prevailed for long periods throughout the land; and, 
under the severe and vigorous administration of able grand 
masters, it soon presented the appearance of a beautiful garden 
interspersed with hamlets, castles and the delightful coun- 
try-seats of the knights. Prussia alone numbered, about 
a. d. 1400 (ten years before the fatal defeat of the order at 
Tannenberg), four bishops, four great commanders, twenty- 
eight commanders, forty-six ^Yiovs—Hauscomthure — thirty- 
eight convents of knights ; a vast host of subordinate officials, 
canons and priests, three thousand one hundred and sixty-two 
knights — Dcut.schrittcr — and six thousand two hundred squires, 
sergeants — armigeri — light horsemen and valets. The number 
of fortified cities was fifty-five, of castles forty-eight, of 
boroughs and hamlets eighteen thousand three hundred and 
sixty-eight. The regular and permanent revenues from the 
province were eight hundred thousand Rhenish guilders, with- 
out counting the more irregular receipts from the fisheries, the 
regalia of the amber, the custom- duties and the perquisites and 
fees of the tribunals. The flourishing commercial cities were 
mostly situated on the Baltic and the banks of the Vistula. 



126 



SEVENTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1096-1300. PRUSSIA— LITHUANIA. 



382. Cities and Castles.— Grfa?zsA-— Danzig, an old Dan- 
ish colony at the mouth of the river, surrounded by immense 
fortifications that have supported many a siege, was enlarged 
and strengthened by the knights, who granted its industrious 
inhabitants important privileges and immunities. But be- 
comiuo- wealthy and possessing the exclusive navigation of 
the Vistula and the maritime commerce of Poland, the 
Danzigers would not submit tamely to the exactions of the 
haughty order; they revolted in 1454 and put themselves 
under the protection of the King of Poland. Marienburg, 
on the Nogat, a branch of the Vistula, A?as the capital and 
seat of the order from 1309 to 1466. The magnificent 
ruins of the Palace — das Deutsche Hans — with its porticoes, 
halls, chapels, armories and refectory, in the noblest style of 
the Gothic architecture of the age, remains in its ruins as 
a monument of the wealth and luxury of the order. Other 
fortified cities were Elbing, Thorn, Culm, Marienwerder, 
Konigsberg, built in 1255, and Memel, which being in pos- 
session of the herring fisheries on the Finnic Gulf, became 
rich and populous, and, like Danzig, important members of the 
Hanseatic League. Cities in Livonia and Esthonia were 
Liebau, Pilten, Reval, Dorpat, Narva, and Riga on the Diina, 
the archiepiscopal see of the Provincia Rigensis. 

383. Such was the organization of the mighty Stale of 
the Warrior-Monks of Saint Mary at the time (1309) when 
their unhappy brethren, the Knights Templars were groaning 
in the dungeons or expiring on the piles as heretics and 
sons of Belial — and the Hospitallers, still residing in the 
East, fought the battles of Christ against Mamlukes and 
Turks. Yet the quiet prosperity of the Teutonic Order be- 
came soon the chief cause of the pride, depravity and licen- 
tiousness of its members ; indeed, the same vices characterize 
all societies of the same sort, composed only of the nobles 
of every nation, for the most part united by religious fanati- 
cism or love of war and dominion. The order became insolent 
and corrupt — in the beginning the disorders were, of course, 
covered with the broad cloak of hypocrisy. The knights 
revelled and caroused within their castles, and made a show 
of their demure priestly mien and piety without, — and there 
remained of the pilgrim and the monk nothing but the cross 
and cowl. They forgot their vows — and, retired on their 
beautiful estates, they began to dream of domestic happiness ; 
they contracted secret alliances of the heart, which gave rise 
to scandal against the order and undermined its influence. 
This forgetfulness of duty created accusations and feuds with- 
in the order itself; then quarrels with the secular prelates 
in the cities, and complaints of the young turbulent republics, 
who chafed and fretted beneath the iron rod of the military 
priesthood. The tyranny of the grand masters became so 
insupportable that both the native Prussians and German 
colonists chose rather to submit to the government of the 
frank and generous Poles. This warlike nation had in 1382 
formed a political union with the Lithuanians by the mar- 
riage of their princess Hedevig with the Lithuanian Grand 
Duke, Jagellon. And when the order, foreseeing the storm, 
broke the peace in 1414, it was totally defeated in the terrible 
battle near Tannenberg (Grunwald) in southern Prussia, 
whore the Grand Master Ulrich of Jungingen perished with 
the greater part of the knights and thirty thousand of their 
vassals and mercenaries."^ From that day began the rapid 
decline of the Deutschritters. Jagellon with his victorious 

"■• The luxury and extravagance of the knights prepared their 
ruia The Grand Master Wallenrode had assembled a large arni3^ on 
the banks of the Niemen in 1394 for the conquest of Lithuania. There he 
invited the knights to a magnificent entertainment. Waiting-brothers 
held canopies of cloth of gold above every knight at the table ; thirty 



Poles advanced toward the seashore ; one province after 
the other surrendered ; Marienburg, the impregnable capital, 
fell; Danzig, Elbing, and Thorn, broke their chains in 1440; 
western Prussia revolted in 1454, and placed itself under the 
protection of king Casimir IV.. and when peace was concluded 
in 1466 all western Prussia became incorporated into Poland, 
and the Teutonic Order, deprived of their finest provinces 
and their wealth, became themselves vassals of the Polish 
crown. 

III. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania. 

384. Origin, Development and Conquests of the Lithu- 
anians. — On the downfall of the Russian power by the inva- 
sion of the Mongols in the first half of the thirteenth century, 
the Lithuanian tribes between the Niemen and the Diina 
at once entered upon the world's battle-field as a conquering 
nation. Their history is very remarkable, and presents a most 
extraordinary instance of a nation which, after having remained 
for centuries in a state of utter insignificance (226, 305), at- 
tained by its conquests and wise policy, in a comparatively 
short time (1235-1386), a station which rendered it for about 
a century the most formidable power in the north, while Rus- 
sia herself was at the mercy of hex Tartar oppressors. The 
home of this Slavic nation was the flat and marshy territory 
between the Wi/ja and the Sivieta, tributaries of the Niemen, 
where they had recognized the supremacy of the Russian grand 
dukes, and paid a tribute answering to the rudeness and 
poverty of the people. But their chiefs soon took advantage 
of the internal dissensions among the Russian princes (302) ; 
they extended their conquests (1082-1221), to Novogrodek 
Polotzk, and Severia (305), and assisted their neighbors, the 
Livonians and Prussians, in repelling the Knights Sword 
Bearers, the warrior-monks, who were converting them to 
Christianity with the broadsword. Yet Lithuania was still cut 
up into many small principalities, until the brave Ryngold, 
having united under his dominion all the conquered terri- 
tories, assumed the title of Grand Duke of Lithuania in a. d. 
1235. His son Mindag, under the pretence of becoming a 
Christian, received from Pope Innocent IV. the royal diadem, 
and was crowned at Novogrodek, the capital of Lithuania (now 
a small village south of the Niemen), by the Archbishop of 
Riga.'" A new dynasty of Lithuanian grand dukes ascended the 
throne a. d. 1283, with Witenes, whose descendants, all talented 
princes, ruled with eminent success until the union of Lithuania 
with Poland, under Jagellon, in 1386.''" Ghedymin, the son of 

courses of the choicest dainties were served in dishes of gold and 
silver; all the goblets were likewise of gold, and each guest was per- 
mitted to carry away his cup and plate after the feast. This glittering 
army was totally routed by the Lithuanians, and forced in a few 
months afterwards to cross the Niemen, like that of Napoleon in 1812. 
in the most deplorable condition ; while an epidemic disease soon cut 
off all those who had escaped the lance of the enemy. See, for the 
complete history of the Teutonic Order in Prussia, the excellent works 
of John Voigt. Geschichte Preussens, Konigsberg, 1828, Vol. L-IV. and 
GeschicMe der Stadt Marienburg, Konigsberg, 1824. 

"■^The Lithuanians were obstinate Pagans; they abhorred the 
priest-knights and their blood}' baptism, and woe to the sword-monks 
wlio fell into their hands ! Thej- remained idolaters till the end of the 
fourteenth century. Tlieir chief deity was Perkunai, the god of thun- 
der, besides some other divinities presiding over seasons, elements, and 
particular occupations. Tliey possessed sacred groves and fountains, 
and worshipped the fire and sacred serpents. The Lithuanian language 
was divided into two principal dialects, the Lithuanian Proper and the 
Lettiac or Livonian. The former was the old Prussian language, which 
the Knights of the Teutonic Order tried all means to extirpate, though 
it was still spoken in tlie time of the Reformation. It is said to bear a 
stronger resemblance to the Sanscrit of India than any other known 
language. 
• "" Witenes, Grand Duke or King of Litliuania, 1283-1315 ; Ghedymin, 



SEVENTH PERIOD.— A. i). 109G-1300. GOLDEN HORDE— FRANCE. 



127 



Witenes, was a great prince. He made extensive conquests in 
southwestern Russia, and consolidated his power by insuring 
perfect protection to the religion, language and property of the 
Christia 1 inhabitants of the conquered lands, though himself 
a worshipper of Perkunas, and his sacred snakes ! His mild 
sway was preferred to that of the Mongols, whom he defeated ; 
and the Greek Russians and Latin Russinians alike blessed his 
reign. Ghedymin built Wilna, which then became the capi- 
tal, and fell in battle against the Teutonic knights in 1328. 
His son Olgerd extended his conquests to the Black Sea, sub- 
dued the Tartars of the Crimea, and presented himself thrice 
in triumph before the gates of Moscow in 1368, 1370 and '73. 
With the reign of his son, Jagellon, begins a new period in the 
history of Lithuania. At the time of the union with Poland, 
the grand duchy consisted of the following principalities : L 
WiLNO (Wilna), on the Wilja, with the new capital of that 
name; II. Polotcz, and III. Psicow, formerly independent 
States; IV. Witepsk ; V. Druecz ; VI. Mscislaw; VII. 
Severia, with the large city Novogorod-Sevcrsky, on the 
Desma ; VIII. Kiew (Kijof), with the celebrated city of that 
name on the Dnieper, then much sunk from its former splen- 
dor (302) by the devastations in the wars of the Mongols; 
IX. Braclau, southeast of Kiew ; X. Podolia. or Camje- 
NiEc, on the frontier of the independent duchy of Halitch 
(303); XI. Wlodomirez, on the Bug; XII. Wolhynia, or 
Luck ; XIII. Czernigow (303.) ; XIV. Turow ; XV. 
Pinsk; XVL Sluck; XVIL Minsk; XVIIL Novogro- 
DEK ; XIX. Grodno (Troki); XX. Berzesk, and XXI. Sam- 
OGiTiA, in the north, the contested territory on the borders of 
Prussia and Livonia, exposed to the continual forays of the 
Teutonic knights and the swarms of crusading adventurers from 
Germany who fought vinder their banners. These provinces 
appear later under the more familiar names of Black, White, 
and Red Russia (303), Samogitia, Volhynia, Podulia, Pod- 
lesia, and Ukraine. Lithuania is generally a fiat and low coun- 
try, the northwestern part (Samogitia) is very fertile, and so are 
the banks of the Niemen, which, moreover, present a beautiful 
scenery. But the greater part of the interior is covered with 
sand, marshes and fens, of terrible memory, from the campaigns 
of Charles XII. in 1709, and of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1812. 
The principal rivers are the Niemen, Dnieper, Berezina, Wilja, 
Bug, and many smaller tributaries. 

IV. Empire of the Mongols. 

38r). Extent of their Conquests. — At Karakorum, 
on the southern slope of Mount Altai, in Mongolistan, arose, 
in A. D. 1216, the wild and gigantic conqueror Dshingis-Chan 
(Chimkhis-Chan), who, within eleven years, carried the arms 
of the Mongols from the frontiers of China, over the 
ruins of numberless cities and nations, westward through 
Tangut, Tshagatai (Tibet), and Iran (Persia), to the foot of 
Mount Caucasus, and the shores of the Mediterranean. Not 
a spark of noble fire was perceptible in the deeds of the 
savage and brutal Mongols, the descendants of the ancient 
Huns (89) ; desolation, bloodshed, and sensuality were their 
only delight ; whole nations they swept from the face of 
the earth by their mere passage ; Samarkand, Bokhara, 
Otrar, Balkh, Nichapur, the Mohammedan seats of com- 
merce, literature and art, were destroyed. Djelah-ed-Din, the 
brave Khowaresmian Prince attempted resistance, but being 
overwhelmed, was forced to flee westward (276). Thus the 
torrent came on. Batu-Chan, the nephew of Dshingis-Chan, 

1315-1841; OZgrm/, 1841-1.37'? ; Jagellon, Uin-UZi:. He man-ies Fe- 
devig, of Poland, 1386, unites the two crowns, and defeats the Oi'der 
of the Teutonic Knights at Tannenberg, 1410. 



after the defeat of the Russian princes on the river Kalka in , 
1224 (304), overrun that unhappy country as far as the 
sources of the Volga and the Dnieper. Kiciv, Resan, Moscou, 
Smolensk, and many other flourishing cities, were laid in 
ashes, the Russians enslaved, and the Mongol Chanate of the 
Golden Horde, of Kaptdiak, founded by BatuChan in 1230. 
This empire extended westward to Lublin and Crakau on the 
upper Vistula, in Poland, along the Carpathian range to the 
Black Sea and the Crimea, and eastward across Mount Oural, 
along the Caspian and Aral Seas, toward the Siberian lakes and 
Mount Muztag, on the borders of Tshagatai. The citizens of 
Novogorod beheld, trembling, the approach of the ruthless 
hordes towards the banks of the Twertza ; but on a sudden the 
Tartars wheeled westward, crossed the Vistula and the Oder, 
and vanquished the Poles and the Knights of the Teutonic 
Order, at Liegnitz, in Silesia, in 1241. Batu-Chan, after 
desolating Hungary with fire and sword, and defeating the 
Hungarians on the plain of Mohi, returned victorious, and 
gorged with spoils, to organize his conquests in Russia. 

Novogorod was saved ; she became the asylum of prince 
and serf; she joined the great Hanseatic Confederacy of the 
Baltic cities, and was soon placed in so excellent a state of de- 
fence that she alone remained flourishing, while the rest of 
Russia smarted under the iron rod of the Tartar for more than 
two centuries — from 1224-1487. While these barbarians occu- 
pied all the forest-lands toward Mount Oural, and fortified them- 
selves permanently in Kasan, the Poles and Lithuanians in- 
vaded and conquered Smolensk and the southwestern provin- 
ces. Batu-Chan was alike great as a statesman and as an enter- 
prising conqueror. But neither the Mongols nor their faithful 
companions, the steeds of the steppe, could enjoy or live in th ! 
cold and dreary regions of Moscou, on the Upper Volga. Ths 
Chan therefore retired, with all his army, to the smiling bankii 
of the Caspian Sea and the Yaik; there he built his immense; 
camp-town of Sarai ; and his Golden Tent gave the name ts 
the ruling Horde of the Kaptchnk. The trade on the Caspiai^ 
was restored, and the Mongols even became a commercia\ 
people. Batu-Chan left the Russian serfs their shadows of 
tributary princes, and the cunning Tartar fomented their pettj 
jealousies and internal feuds : he ordered them down to tht 
golden tent of Sarai, where he sat to decide their suits as t 
sovereign judge, and to punish every attempt at insurrection 
with the string or the scimitar. 



V. The Kingdom of France uj<der Philip Augus 
and Philip-le-Bel. 1180-1310. 

386. Its Feudal Relations to England.' — The conquetii 
of England by Duke William of Normandy in 1066 became 
the origin of the protracted struggle between France and 
England, which for nearly three centuries formed the turning 
point of the most important political and geographical changes 
in those states during the middle ages ; yet the rivalry between 
the French liege-lord and the Norman vassal did not reach 
the height of its violence until the middle of the twelfth cen- 
tury during the reigns of Louis VII. and Henry II. of Plan- 
tagenet, and of Richard Coeur-de-Lion and Philip August 
when the English heroes in spite of all their valor wera 
defeated by the cunning politics of the French statesmen. The 
catastrophe in this earlier part of the contest for supremacy, 
took place in 1200, the epoch of the humiliation of Johc 
Sansterre (Lackland) and the confiscation of Normandy by 
the King of France. The relations between William the Con. 
queror and King Philip I. were already sufiiciently hostile, 
Robert Court-hose of Normandy was supported by France in 
his feud against his brother Henry I. of England ; but aftei 
the chivalrous battle of Tinchebraij in 1108, Normandy waj 



128 



SEVENTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1096-1300. FRANCE. 



again united to England. Under Louis VII. the danger for 
France became still greater. Immediately after the return 
of the pious king from the disastrous second crusade, his queen 
Eleanor, the heiress of Poitou and Gruyenne, escaped from the 
arms of her silly husband, and married the young Count 
Henry Plantagenet of Anjou and Maine. Called to the throne 
of England in 1 153, Henry II. thus by inheritance and marriage 
obtained the better half of France. The orange-colored line 
in our map, dividing the Kingdom of France from north to 
south, indicates these important feudal relations of the twelfth 
century. 

387. English Possessions in France. — The whole western 
portion of the kingdom from the British Channel to the Pyre- 
nees, including Normandy^ Brittany^ Avjoii, Touraine and 
Maine, Poitou, Aquitaine with Auvergne and Ga&cogne be- 
longed to the English kings of the house of Plantagenet either as 
immediate tenures or as mesne-feofs— c?.r/"?'e^"c-^'e/s. Anjou, Tou- 
raine and Maine they held as their paternal inheritance ; Nor- 
mandy and the feudal supremacy over Brittany they obtained 
as heirs of the Norman English kings, and Poitou., Aquitaine 
and Gascogne by the marriage of Henry II. with Eleanor, — ■ 
territories, the most fertile and flourishing in France, which 
in extent, population and wealth, far surpassed their posses- 
sions in the British Island beyond the Channel. 

388. The immediate possessions of the FpvEnch Crown 
were thus again reduced to the duchy of Isle-de-France, with 
its component counties of Clermont, Dreux, Meulant, Valois, 
Paris, Corbeil, Orleans and Vexin, and the viscounties of 
Gatinois, Sees, Estampes and Melun. The Bishops of Laon, 
Beauvais and Noyon held likewise their districts directly of 
the king, but the cities themselves formed already free com- 
munes (307), supporting, however, the royal cause. To the 
crown lands belonged, besides, Bourges, which King Philip I. 
had bought in 1095, and the districts of Yassy and At.tigny 
in Champagne. In the north of France the Counts of Flan- 
ders, as great feudatories of the crown, but almost independent, 
extended their dominion over all the territories between the 
Scheldt and the G-erman Sea ; they possessed likewise tempora- 
rily the counties oi Amiens and Vermandois, and held theimpor- 
t;!.nt commercial republic of Ghent and the cities on the Scheldt 
under the suzerainty of the Romano-German Empire. On 
the east of the French crown lands we find the powerful 
families of the Counts of Ferma^cZoM (Champagne) and Troyes 
subdivided among the Seven Peers of Champagne and the 
Archbishop of Rheims. Southwest, on the Loire, lay the 
counties of Charlres, Blois and Sancerre, and the viscounty 
of Chateau-Dun. The duchy of Burgundy belonged to the 
younger branch of the Capetians ; this first dynasty of the 
Burgundian dukes became extinct in 1361, when John the Bold, 
the youngest son of King John the Good of France, after the 
battle at Poitiers, began the second and more celebrated 
line of the Dues de Bourgogne. The frontier lands at the 
northern base of the Pyrenees, Septimania (158), Toulouse, 
Carcassonne and Rascz had by marriage passed to the 
(V)P.nts of Barcelona and the crown of Aragon on the union 
of those states in 1137 (318), and we have therefore given 
those districts the crimson color of the kingdom of Aragon. 

389. The kingdom of Arelate, east of the Rhone, be- 
longed during the twelfth century still to Germany (244), 
though French manners, language and interests were already 
predominant. It consisted of the following provinces : I. The 
Palatinate of Burgundy between the Saone and Jura, which 
had passed to the Emperor Frederic Barbarossa by his mar- 
riage with Beatrix of Burgundy (395). II. The duchy of 
Lesser BimGuxnY (comprehending Western and Southern 



Switzerland), from Mount Jura on the west to Mount Saint 
Gotthard on the east, stood under the vicariate of the 
Souabian Counts of Zahringen. III. The counties of Albon 
(afterwards the Dauphiny) and of Lyons. IV. The counties 
of Tararantaise and Maurienne in the Pennine Alps, which 
belonged to the powerful and warlike counts of the house 
of Savoy. V. Several smaller districts on the Rhone, such as the 
counties of Geneve, the Seigneuries of Villars, La Tour and 
others. 

390. The Ecclesiastical Division of France after 
the Crusades against the Reformers in Aquitaine. — ^Until 
the year 1322 the French Church was divided into the fol- 
lowing ten archbishoprics : I. Provincia Remensis, with the 
archiepiscopal see at Rheims, and eleven suffragan bishoprics ; 
\, Laudunum (Laon); 2, Suessio (Soissons) ; 3, Belvantm 
(Beauvais) ; 4, Am,bianum (Amiens) ; 5, Tm-nacum (Tour- 
nay; 6, Ca»ze/"rt«<'i'?J (Cambray) ; 7, Noviomagus (Noyon): 
8, Arrebate (Arras); 9, Taruenna (Terouanne) ; 10, Silva- 
we6t(« (Senlis) ; and 11, Catalaunum (Chalons sur Marne). 
Ancient monasteries, celebrated for the learning and piety of 
the monks, were Corbeja (Corvey), between Arras and Pe- 
ronne, from which went forth Ansgarius, the apostle of Den- 
mark, the Abbey of Sancti Rieherii, near Abbeville (232), 

Vallis Clara, near Laon, and many others. 

II. Pr.ovincia Rotomagensis, embracing all Normandy, 
with the metropolitan see at Rouen, and the six suffragan 
churches: \ , Ebroica {^weux) ; 2, Lexovieum (Lisieux) ; 3, 
Bajoca (Bayeux) ; 4, Co7istantia. (Coutances); 5, Abrinca 
(Avranches) ; and 6, Sagium (Seez), on the borders of Maine. 
Among the numerous monasteries were renowned for the 
austerity of iheir descipline and the beauty of their architec- 
ture : Bellosana and Vallis Beatce Marice, near Rouen ; La 
Trappe, in a wild and secluded valley, among the dreary 
mountains of Evreux, where the austerity of the Trappist 
Monks almost surpassed the bounds of nature, but gathered 
penitents from the remotest regions ; Bella Stella., of a softer 
name and, no doubt, a more reasonable discipline ; Fontanctum 
and Blancalanda, on the charming hills of the Cotintin, in 
western Normandy. 

III. Provincia Turonensis, embracing Touraine, Maine, 
Anjou, and Brittany, with the ancient and venerable see of 
Tours, on the Loire, already so well known from Old Gregory 
of Tours, the earliest French historian in the sixth century, 
and eleven bishoprics : Cenomannis (Le-Mans) ; 2, Andegavi 
(Angers); 3, Namneta (Nantes); 4, Fe?ze?io (Vannes) ; 5, 
Corioso'pitcz (Quimper) ; 6, Sancti Pauli Leonensis (Saint 
Paul de Leon), on the northern sea-coast; 7, Trecora (Tre- 
guier) : 8, Maclovium (Saint-Malo) ; 9, Dolus (Dol) ; 10, 
Redoncs (Rennes) ; and 11, Sancti Br ioci (Saint Brieue). 
Among the large number of pious institutions, we shall only 
record Sanct. Gildasius in nemore, and Saint Jacques de 
Montfort, in the hills near Rennes ; Gau.dium Sanctoi Maria 
(La Joye), on the coast of Vannes, and Beata Maria de Meil- 
lerio, north of Nantes, were celebrated nunneries in Brittany. 

391. IV. Provincia Burdegalensis, embracing Poitou, 
Saintonge, Angoumois, Perigord, and Bordelais. The archie- 
piscopal see was in Bordeaux, and five suQ'ragan bishops were 
ranged under it: 1, Pictavium (Poitiers); 2, Sanctonum 
(Saintes) ; 3, Incolisma (Angouleme) ; 4, Petrocorium (Peri- 
gueux), and 5, Aginnum (Agen) ; Aurea Vallis, Gratia Dei, 
Stella, and Misericordia Dei, were monasteries near Poitiers. 

V. Provincia Auxitana, in Gascogne with the see of 
AucH, on the Adour, and ten suffragan churches : 1. Vasatce 
(Bazas) ; 2, Aturum (Atre) ; 3, Lactora (Lectoure) ; 4, Tar- 
ba (Tarbes) ; 5, Convena Sancti Bertrandi (Saint Bertrand) ; 
6, Consora.num. Sancti Licerii (Saint Lizier), both, in the 



SEVENTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1096-1300. FRANCE— GERMANY. 



129 



valley of the Pyrenees ; 7, Lascara (Lescar) ; 8, Olero 
(Oleron); 9, Bayona (Bayoime) ; and 10, Aquae (Dax). 

VI. Provinoia Bituricensis, embracing Berry, Bourbon, 
Limosin, and Auvergne, with the archieplscopal see in Bitu- 
RiCA (Bourges), and seven suffragans : 1, Liniovica (Limoges) ; 
2, Cadurcum (Cahors) ; 3, Albiga (Alby) ; 4, Kutena 
(Rhodez) ; 5, Memate (Mende) ; 6, Vellava, Anicium (Puy) ; 
and 7, Clarus Moris (Clermont). Monasteries in the Limosin 
were Palatium Beatee Maria, and Yallis Lata in Auvergne ; 
M.ons Fetrosus, Vallis Lucida, and Monasterium SanctA Petri 
de Casts. 

VII. Pkovincia Senonensis, with the ancient see of 
Senones (Sens) and the central bishoprics of, 1, Parisii 
(Paris) ; 2, Mddce (Meaux) ; 3, Trecce. (Troyes) ; 4, Carnutum 
(Chartres) ; 5, Aurelianiim (Orleans); and 6, Autissiodutitim 
(Auxerre). 

392. VIII. Pkovincia Lugdunensis, embracing the 
duchy of Burgundy, and the Lyonnais, with the arehiepisco- 
pal chair of Lyons, on the Rhone and Saone, and the five 
subordinate bishoprics : 1, Lingones (Laugves); 2, Augusto- 
dunum (Autun) ; 3, CahilJonum (Chalons sur Saune) ; Ma- 
tisco (Macon) ; and 5, Belica (Belley), on the Upper Rhone, in 
the gorges of Mount Jura. Among the celebrated convents 
were, ClaravaJlis (Clairvaux), in Burgundy, of the order of 
the Cistercians, where Saint Bernard was the first abbot, in 
1115, and whence he sallied forth to rouse the world for the 
second great crusade. There, too, he gave the rule to the 
Knights Templars, whom he considered as combining the 
most exalted virtues of the knight and the monk. The dis- 
graced Abailard built his abbey of the Paraclete near Troyes, 
in 1121. He gave it later to Heloise, and was buried in the 
chapel at her side.'" The convent was destroyed, like so 
many others, dui'ing the French Revolution ; but the beautiful 
Gothic sepulchre of the faithful lovers stands now as one of 
the most touching monuments in the burial grounds of Pere 
la Chaise, near Paris. 

IX. Provincia Viennensis, with the archiepiscopal see of 
ViENNE, on the Rhone, and the suffragans of, 1, Geneva, on the 
lake Leman ; 2, Sancti Johanni in Mauriana (Saint Jean 
de Maurienne) ; 3, Gratianopolis (Grenoble) ; 4, Valentia 
(Valence) ; 5, Vivarium (Viviers) ; and 6, Dia (Die). 

X. Provincia Narbonensis, embracing the ancient Sep- 
timania, along the shores of the Mediterranean, with the me- 
tropolitan see of Narbonne and nine suffragans : 1 , Tolosa 
(Toalouse), on the Garonne ; 2, Carcasso (Carcassonne) ; 3, 
Biterra (Beziers) ; 4, Agathia (Agde) ; 5, Lutera (Lodeve) ; 
6, Mngalona (Magalonne, and, after the year 1323, in Mont- 
pellier) ; 7, Ucetia (Uzes) ; 8, Nemausus (Nimes) ; and 9, 
Elena (Elne), in Roussillon, on the frontier of Spain. 

XL Provincia Arelatensis, with the metropolitan see 
at Arelate (Aries), so celebrated on account of its splendid 
churches and monasteries, with the episcopacies, 1, Tricas- 

In this beautiful, but solitary retreat, Heloise, with her compa- 
panions, fleeing the world in the bloom of youth, sought an asylum in 
her unhappy love. 

Ah I think at least thy flock deserves thy care, 
Plants of thy hand, and children of thy prayer; 
From the false world in early youth they fled, 
By thee to mountains, wilds, and deserts led ; 
Tou raised these hallow'd walls ; the desert smiled, 
And paradise was open'd in tho wild. 

Abailard died in 1142, at St. Marcel, near Chalons sur Saone; but 
Heloise demanded his ashes, and obtained them for her chapel in the 
Paraclete. 

Amid that scene, if some relenting eye 
Glance on the stone where our cold ashes lie. 
Devotion's self shall steal a thought from neaven. 
One human tear shall drop— and be forgiven, 

17 



tinum (Trois-Chateaux) ; 2, Vasio (Vaison) ; 3, Arausio 
(Orange); A, Avenio (Avignon); 5, Carpentoracte (Carpen- 
tras) ; 6, Massilia (Marseilles) ; 7, Tolonium (Toulon). 

XII. Provincia Aquensis, with the celebrated see of 
Aqu^ (^ix), and the suffragans; 1, Vapincum (Gap); 2, 
Sistaricum (Sisterou) ; 3, Apte (Apt) ; 4, Regii (Riez) ; and 
5, Forum Julii (Frejus). 

XIII. Provincia Ebredunensis, comprising the valleys 
of the Cottian and Maritime Alps, with the metropolitan see 
of Embrun, and the suffragans; 1, Dinia (Digne) ; 2, Sani- 
tiuin (Senez) ; Glanateva (Glandeve) ; Vintia (Vence) ; and 
5, Grassa ( Grasse), formerly Antipolis or Antibes. In the 
last of these ecclesiastical provinces on the Alps and in 
Switzerland, were situated the two provinces of Besangon and 
Tarantaise, comprehending all the country from the Jura 
to the high Alps, with Savoy and the valley of Aosta, which, 
however, still ranged under the German empire. 

393. Such was the general territorial division of France 
toward the close of the twelfth century. Philip Augustus 
compelled the .sly and dastard John Lackland to relinquish 
all his feudal possessions in France except Guyenne. By the 
consolidation of these large provinces, the crown of France ob- 
tained an influence infinitely greater than that possessed by its 
numerous vassals individually. The crusades against the 
Waldenses and Albigenses, in southern France, contributed, 
likewise, powerfully to the extension of the royal prerogative, 
and though Saint Louis gave back some provinces {Limosin, 
Quercy, Pirigord, and Agenois) to Henry III. of England, in 
1258, in order to secure peace at home, while prosecuting his 
crusades in the East, yet he succeeded in alienating the val- 
vasours from their liege-lords, the great feudatories, and 
favored the partitions of the large fiefs by divisions in the 
succession. But no other event was so favorable to the re- 
union of the territories in France as the crusades, in the cam- 
paigns of Acre, in 1189-1191 ; of Egypt, 1248-1249, and of 
Tunis, 1271. Hundreds of barons, knights, and signers per- 
ished by the sword of the infidels or the pestilence of the 
climate, and Philip le Bel appears already in 1310, as the 
powerful monarch of united France.'" 



VI. THE ROMANO-GERMANIC EMPIRE UNDER THE DY- 
NASTY OF THE HOHENSTAUFENS, A. D. 1138-1268. 

A, Germany, 1138-1273. 

394. Limits, Princely Families, and Feudal Divi- 
sions. — During the earlier part of the reign of the Hohen- 
staufen, or Souabian dynasty, the most brilliant pei'iod in the 
annals of the empire, the frontiers and the influence of Ger- 
many extended even farther on the east and the south than 
they did in the preceding reigns of the Saxon and Franconian 
emperors. In the north, the Baltic, the river Eider, and the 
German Ocean or the North Sea, formed the ancient bound- 

"8 The crown acquired Alengon, \\^& ; Auvergne, 1198; Ariois, 
1199; EvVeux, 1208; Touraine, Maine, and Anjou, 1203; Normandy, 
1205; Foitou, 1206; Vermandois and Valois, 1215; the portion of 
Toulouse west of the Rhone, 1229; Perche, 1240; Ma^on, 1245; £ott- 
logne, 1261; the rest oi ' Toulouse, 1272; Chartres, 1284; Id Marche 
and Foug'eres in Brittany, 1303; Angouleme, \ZQ1 ; Champagne, 1328; 
Guyenne, 1472 ; Anjou and Maine, for the last time in 1481 ; the 
Archbishop of Lyons surrendered the secular jurisdiction to the king 
in 1311. Dauphine escheated to the crown in 1843, and the duchy of 
Burgundy, after the fall of Charles the Bold in 1477. Flanders, with 
its important maritime cities, was incorporated so early as 1299, and 
the path seemed opened for the possession of all the Low Countries , 
but the tyranny and arrogance of the French inflamed the brave Flem- 
ish citizens to the heroical resistance which saved their old constitu- 
tion at the peace of 1304. 



SEVENTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1096-1300. GERMAN EMPIRE. 



130 - 

ary. In the west, we follow again the line of the Scheldt, the 
Mosa, the Cote d'Or, the Saone, and the Rhone, to its dis- 
charge into the Mediterranean. In the south, the imperial 
sceptre of Frederic Barbarossa still extended over northern 
Italy, in spite of all the exertions of the Lombard Republics, 
and the opposition of the Romish Popes ; and by the marriage 
of his son, Henry VI., with the heiress of the Norman king- 
dom of Naples and Sicily, in 1 185, the imperial influence reach- 
ed ao-ain to the extremities of the Italian peninsula and the 
islands. It was then that the Pope and the Lombard league, 
perceiving themselves outflanked and hemmed in by the arms 
of the Souabian emperors, roused themselves anew to that 
violent struggle, which fifty years later terminated with the 
downfall of the imperial power both in Germany and Italy, 
and the destruction of the unhappy Hohenstaufen house itself. 
On the east, the rivers Leitha and March remained the 
frontier-line against Hungarians and Sclavonians ; the Upper 
Oder and the Lower Vistula still separated Germans from 
Poles, the latter having, during their successful wars with 
the Russians, obtained their entire independence of the Ger- 
man empire. Bohemia, on the contrary, ha^ become more 
closely allied to Germany, having been erected into a king- 
dom by Frederic Barbarossa. It was already considered as 
an integral part of the empire, and the Bohemian King figured 
among the electors at the imperial diets. Entirely nominal 
and imaginary was the supremacy over Denmark which Fre- 
deric Barbarossa arrogated to himself at the diet of Besan- 
§on in 1162. Nay, the scale of fortune turned so rapidly, that 
the great and victorious kings, Knud VI. and Waldemar II., 
for more than thirty years — 1190-1227 — held possession of 
the lands on the Lower Elbe, Holstein with Hamburg and 
Liibeck, all Vendland and Pomerania, which were ceded to 
Denmark in the remarkable treaty of Treves, by the young 
emperor, Frederic II., in 1215. Lorraine, divided into its 
two provinces of Lower Lorraine or Brabant, and Upper Lor- 
raine or the ducliy of Lotheringia (246), belonged still to Ger- 
many, and formed a secure and well-fortified barrier against 
France. The two Frederics maintained with a strong arm the 
German sovereignty over the palatinate and kingdom of Bur- 
gundy (244) ; but during the disorders of the interregnum — 
1252-1273, and by the neglect of the subsequent emperors, these 
important provinces became alienated and lost. It was the pre- 
tensions and jealousies of the two leading families in Germany, 
the Hohenstaufens and the Welfs, which gave rise to the violent 
struggle in that country and in Italy, causing the dissolution of 
the ancient duchies of Saxony, Franconia, and Souabia, the 
independence of the Italian and German cities, and the gra- 
dual downfall of the imperial authority. The great feudato- 
ries became sovereign princes in their own territories ; the 
counts and valvasours sought protection as immediate vassals 
of the crown ; and the cities formed armed confederacies against 
the nobility. Italy was lost for ever, and the old constitution 
of Conrad II. became changed in its principal features. In 
order to explain the great influence which the leading families 
of Germany exerted on account of their vast possessions, we 
shall here give a short description of their territories at the 
beginning of the contest about the succession, 1137-1170, on 
the death of Lothaire of Supplingenburg. 

395. The family of Hohenstaufen took its name from 
the high conical mountain — der hohe Staufen — in the valley 
of the Rems, four miles northeast of the town of Geppingen 
in Souabia (310). There the ancestor of the family, Frederic 
of Biiren, had built a strong castle, the cradle of his chivalrous 
race;'" a loyal adherent of Henry IV. in the days of 

'" The ancient castle of Staufen in its ruins commands one of the 
most magnificent views in Germany. Si.xty towns, villages and castles 
are seen scattered tlirowih the fertile and beautiful v-alley of the Rems ; 



adversity, he was rewarded by that unhappy monarch with the 
hand of his daughter Agnes and the duchy of Souabia as 
dower. This sudden elevation of an obscure warrior imme- 
diately caused the outbreak of protracted feuds between the 
Hohenstaufens, then so closely allied to the imperial interest, 
and the ambitious families, the Welfs in Bavaria and the 
Zahringers on the Rhine, which for many years brought deso- 
lation over Germany, but ultimately cai-ried the Hohenstaufens 
victoriously to the imperial throne.'"" 

Their possessions were, I., the duchy of Souabia ; II. the 
duchy of Franconia ; III. the Palatinate of the Rhine with 
the Spiragau and Alsace ; IV. the palatinate of Burgundy, 
west of Mount Jura ; V. Provincia Egra, on the frontiers 
of Bohemia ; VI. the Thurgau in Switzerland and the Welfic 
territories in Tyrol ; VII. the numerous imperial fiefs in Lom- 
bardy ; later, VIII. the kingdom of Naples with Sicily, Sar- 
dinia and Corsica, and IX. the kingdom of Je:rusalem. 

With such concentrated power still more strengthened by 
their energy and eminent talents, Frederic I. and Frederic II. 
attempted to re-establish the sovereign dominion of Charlemagne, 
but failed. The times had changed ; Italy full of youthful en- 
thusiasm for freedom, commerce and reform withstood the 
shock; the German feudatories long tired of the whip of 
a master, took advantage of the Italian campaigns and the 
defeats of the German emperor to throw off the yoke ; they 
became independent princes, and the cities confederate repub- 
lics; and the impartial historian, who philosophically looks 
back upon the development of the nations during the middle 

farther off, in the south, appears the towering ridge of the Rauhe Alp ; 
and the blue lines of the Schwarz-Wald — the Black Forest — form the 
distant frame to the lovely pictm-e. This paternal castle was the 
usual residence of Frederic Barbarossa, and saw in its good old times 
all the pomp and splendor of the last great and mighty emperor. It 
sank with the family that reared it; its noble ruins were in 1785 
bought by the burghers of Geppingen, who demolished the castle in 
order to rebuild their town that had suffered from a fire. When we 
visited that interesting spot, during our rambles through Souabia hx 
ISc-i, only the outer walls and a solitary tower remained of the im- 
perial residence of the proudest dynasty of medioeval Germanj'. Sia 
transit gloria mundi ' 

180 HOUSE OF HOHENSTAUFEN OR SOUABIA. 

Frederic o{ Biiren, Duke of Souabia, in 1080, 1 1105, 

married Agnes, daughter of Henry IV., 1 1143. 

. _ A . , 



Frederic, Dulce of Souabia, 1 1147, 

maiTied, 1st, Judith of Buy tarn; 

2d, Agnes of Saarbriick. 

. A 



Conrad III., King of Gennany in 1133, 
1 1152. 



Feed. I., Barbarofisa, Emp., 1152, 1 1190, 

married, 1st, Adelheid of Vohburg; 

2d, Beatrix of Burgundy, 1 1185. 



i 
Henky VI., Emp., Frederic, Conrad, 


Otho 


. ,. , 

Philip, 1208, 


1190, + 119T, married Duke of Souabia, Duke of Sou 


- of Burgundy, 


Irene of Con- 


Constance of Na- 1 1191. abia, 1 1196. 


tll91. 


stantinople, 


pies, + 119S. 




+ 1208. 


A 




A 




f 




Frederic II., 


Kunigunde, Beatrix, 1 1213, 


married, 1st, to Constance 


Wenceslas of 


the Emperor 


ofAragon, 1208, + 1222. 


Bohemia. 

A 


Otho IV. 


2d. JoLANTE of Jerusalem, 


Primislav III. 




1225, + 1228. 


Ottocar. 




3d. Isabel of England, 1285, 






+ 1241. 






4th. BiANOA of Lancia, 1250. 






5th. Matilde of Antioch. 






6th. A German Countess. 

A 


4. Manfred 




r \ 

1. Henry, 2. Conrad IV., 3. Margaret, 


, 6. Enziua, 


+ 1242. Emperor, + 12T2, 


+ 1266. 


King 


+ 1254, Albert of Thuringla 


Beatrix 


- of S.ardinla, 


Elizabeth of Bavaria. 


of Savoy. 


1 1272. 


A A 


A 




1 11 If 
CoNKADiN, Frederic Diezman. 


Constance, 


\ 


1 1898. the Bittsn. 


Fetor III. of Aragon. 



SEVENTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1096-1300. GUELFS AND GHIBELINES. 



131 



ages, must confess that all the anarchy which followed ^a as a 
smaller evil to humanity than the state of rigid vassalage which 
the Souabians attempted to enforce upon them. The two 
Frederics were the last emperors who wielded a real power 
during the middle ages ; their successors became only shadow- 
kings, and were often the tools and toys of the hun- 
dreds of princes and free-towns who were fighting about the 
supremacy. With regard to his own personal merit, Frederic 
II., the last great Ilohenstaufen, was the most distinguished 
man of his age. He stood high above the superstitions and 
prejudices of the time ; but the lance of the knight was 
blunted by the cross of the priest. Frederic, the Arab, as he 
was called, was the noblest protector of science and art. He 
founded the University of Naples in 1224, and considerably 
enlarged the medical school of Salerno. At both places also, 
through his zeal, were formed the first collections of art, 
which, unfortunately, in the tumults of the following ages, 
were eventually destroyed. A splendid monument of his 
genius is preserved in the code of laws for his hereditary 
kingdom of Naples and Sicily, and which he caused to be com- 
posed by his minister Peter de Vincis. According to the 
plan of a truly great legislator, he was not influenced by the 
idea of erecting something entirely new, but he built upon the 
basis of the Noi-man institutions, adopting, however, whatever 
to him appeared good and necessary for his main object, the 
security and welfare of his Neapolitan people. Never has 
the contest between the ecclesiastic and secular power let loose 
so fierce passions as those of the Popes and the Hohenstaufens 
in the thirteenth century, nor has a generous family ever had 
so terrible a downfall as that of the innocent Conradino, the last 
of his race, who perished on the scaffold of Naples in 1268. 

396. II. The Welfs (Guelfi) counted their ancestors 
back to the era of Charlemagne. Their paternal estates lay 
on the lake of Bregentz or Constance, Bodensee, eastward to 
the Lech, and were bounded on the south by the highest 
chains of the Ehaetian Alps. The ancient line of this cele- 



brated family became extinct 
Welf IV., the son of the 
Welf III., and the Italian 



with Welf III. in 1055; but 
Princess Kunitza, sister of 
Margrave Azzo of Este, be- 



came the founder of the younger line. This Welf IV. 
obtained from Henry IV. the investiture with the duchy of 
Bavaria.'" The Welfic possessions were, I. the duchy of Ba- 
varia ; II. the duchy of Saxony with Nordalbingia or 
Holstein, Slavia^ romerania, and other conquests from the 
Vends ; III. the margravate of Este, in Italy. Such im- 
mense territories rendered Henry the Lion the most danger- 
ous enemy of the Hohenstaufens. But when placed under the 
ban of the empire, in 1180, all the princes, great and small, 
bishops, and barons, fell upon the hunted lion, greedy after 
the spoils, which were distributed among them. 

III. The AscANiANS. Albert the Bear of Ascania, re- 
ceived at the dismemberment of Saxony, in 1 180, the margra- 
vate of Brandenburg, with the prerogative of the ducal dignity 

181 TOUNGEE LINE OE THE WELFS. 
Welf, or Guelfo IV., created Duke of Bavaria, 
1071, by Henry IT., t in Gypras, 1101. 



Henhy the Black, Duke of Bavaria, + 1126, 

marries Wilfilde, daughter of Billung, 

Duke of Saxony and Luneturg. 



Welf of Este 

marries tlie Countess Mathildis, 

ofTuscany, tll29. 



Henky the Pkoud, Duke of Bavari.1, 1 1 139, 
marries Gertkude daughter of Emperor Lothaire II. 



Hemey the Lion, Duke of Bavaria and Saxony, 
deposedinllSO, 1 1195. 



Welf 
Duke ofTuscany. 



Otho IV„ Emperor, 120S, 
1 1218. 



William of Luneburg, 
first Duke of Brunswick, 1213' 

direct ancestor of 
Queen Victoria of England. 



in war, and the rights of an elector of the empire in his quality 
as arch-chamberlain. 

IV. The Salians in Hesse and Thuringia. 

V. The Etichones, in the duchy of Lotheringia. 

VI. The DaivES of Brabant. 

VII. The Counts of Luxemburg ; and, 

VIII. The Zaehringers, one of the most celebrated fami- 
lies on the Rhine, who possessed I. the Lesser Burgundy or 
Switzerland, and II. Baden and Breisgau, on the right bank 
of the Rhine, as fiefs of the empire ; their hostility against the 
Hohenstaufens changed later to the most sincere friendship 
and intermarriage. 

IX. The warlike Babenbergers defended the eastern fron- 
tiers towards Hungary, as Archdukes of Austria. 

X. The Ortenburgers in the duchy of Carinthia, and, 
XL The Counts of Andechs, in Tyrol, were more distin- 
guished than the small Counts of Lenzburg, Kyhurg, and 
Habshurg, in Switzerland, the latter of whom, however, by 
inheritance of estates from the Zahringers, by bravery and 
talent, afterwards obtained the imperial dignity in the person 
of the noble-minded Count Rudolph of Habsburg, in 1273. 

397. Such were the smaller satellites who moved around 
the brighter planets, the Hohenstaufens and the Welfs. On 
the death of the Emperor Lothaire II. in 1 1 37, the Welf, 
Henry the Proud of Bavaria and Saxony, heir of the patri- 
mony of his father-in-law, the Emperor Lothaire, and pos- 
sessor of the crown jewels, stood boldly forward as a candi- 
date for the imperial dignity. But the German princes, 
dreading so haughty and powerful a master, elected the Ho- 
heiistaufen Conrad, Duke of Franconia, in Frankfort, on Feb- 
ruary 22d, 1138. Henry of Bavaria dying, and his son Henry 
(the Lion) being still a child, the contest seemed at an end. 
But when Conr'&rd III. declared the Welfic fiefs escheated to 
the crown, and gave the duchy of Bavaria to his half-brother, 
Leopold of Austria, and the duchy of Saxony to Count Albert 
the Bear, of Ascania, the whole Saxon people rose in defence 
of their young prince, and Count Welf of Altorf, the brother 
of Henry the Proud, throwing down the gauntlet in defence 
of his injured nephew, began the desolating war. The deci- 
sive battle between the hostile races was fought near Weins- 
berg, in Souabia, in 1140. It was here that the names of 
Welfs (Guelfs), and Waiblingers (Ghibelines), were heard 
for the first time. The battle-cry of the knights spur- 
ring on to the attack — " Strike for the Welfs !" " Strike for 
the Waiblwigers ! " '*' became afterwards for centuries the 
rallying words which cost so much blood beyond the Alps, 
though the early signification of them had been entirely 
changed. Count Welf was defeated and forced to surrender 
after an obstinate resistance in the city of Weinsberg. Yet 
he was generously treated by the chivalric Conrad.''*" The 

isi The Hohenstaufens obtained this by-name from a strong fortress, 
Waiblingen (Viblinga), now the small town of that name, on the Lower 
Rems, a few miles west of their castle of Staufen. 

3 Conrad, exasperated at the heroic defence of Count Welf, his 
knights, and citizens, had resolved to destroy Weinsberg with fire and 
sword. He suspended, however, the last assault, and permitted the 
Weinsberg women previously to retire, and carry with them their 
dearest jewels. But how great was the astonishment of the emperor and 
is army wheJi, at dawn of day, they beheld in long rows the countess 
and her fair companions, instead of carrying off their jewels and trin- 
kets, staggering along beneath the weight of their husbands or dearest 
relatives. This affecting scene moved Conrad to tears, and when Fre- 
deric of Souabia, galloping up, upbraided him for his weakness, and 
denounced the treachery, Conrad spoke those noble words, which have 
been preserved for ages, A royal word must not he twisted, nor ungener- 
ously interpreted. He dismounted, and, embracing the count and 
countess, the tragical scene terminated in the romantic spirit of the 
age, and the loyal old city of Weinsberg is still proud of the name of 



132 



SEVENTH PERIOD— A. D. 1096-1300. GERMAN EMPIRE. 



second crusade to the east, in 1147-48, put a stop to the in- 
testine dissensions, and his successor, Frederic Barbarossa, 
attempted to conciliate the Welfic house, by giving back the 
duchy of Bavaria to Henry the Lion, who, enthusiastically 
supported by the Saxons, had withstood victoriously the at- 
tacks of the Bear and the Bishops. By thus re-uniting the 
two most powerful duchies of Germany, and by extending his 
dominion over the Sclavonians, far away beyond the Elbe, this 
-unruly and ambitious prince was enabled, in 1180, to renew 
the war with the rival house of Hohenstaufen, in which he 
was destroyed, and the German Welfs, in spite of the election 
of his son, Otho IV., in 1208, lost for ever all prospect of 
obtaining the imperial throne in Germany. 

398. A. The Secular States, a. d. 1268.— I. The duchy 
of LuENEBURG and Brunswick (the ancient Ostphalia). This 
small province on the Elbe was the only part of the large 
duchy of Saxony which remained in the possession of the 
Welfish family after the disgrace of Henry the Lion, and 
the dismemberment of Saxony, in 1180. The Archbishop 
of Cologne, the Bishops of Halberstadt and Munster, and 
many secular barons, divided Westphalia among themselves. 
The Archbishop of Bremen took possession of the mouth of 
the Elbe, Stacle and Ditmarsk, whose inhabitants, the Ditmars- 
kers (375), however, remained independent. The Counts of 
Oldenburg and Holstein ranged themselves directly under 
the empire. Luebeck, now an important city, after throwing 
off allegiance to Denmark (375), was raised to the dignity 
of an imperial free city by Frederic II. Glorious old Saxony 
was no more ! 

II. The margravate of Brandenburg.— All the Sclavonic 
conquests of Henry the Lion east of the Elbe were, in 1180, 
transferred to Albert the Bear. They were colonized by Ger- 
man settlers, and divided into the Altmark, Mittelmark, TJkcr- 
mark, and Neumark, forming later, in union with Prussia, 
one of the most important states of Germany. Berlin, on 
the Spree, was then built, and became the capital. 

III. The electorate of Saxony — Kur-Sachsen — on the 
Elbe, received the name of the old duchy, and was formed of 
parts of Thuringia. 

IV. The landgravate of Thuringia was, 1247, conferred 
upon Otho, thelUustrious, of Meissen, who became the founder 
of the present Saxon houses. 

V. The landgravate of Hassia (Hessen) on the west of 
the Thuringian Mountains. 

VI. The duchy of Bavaria was in 1180 given to the 
brave warrior Otho of Wittelsbach, who in 1154 had saved 
the imperial army of Frederic Barbarossa in the celebrated 
defile of Verona, le Chiuse cli Verona. The old duchy em- 
braced Carinthia, Austria, and Styria. These important 
provinces had, however, already, in 1156, been separated from 
Bavaria. The latter was divided into Upper and Lower Ba- 
varia. Munich was still a small borough. Land shut was 
the capital. 

399. VII. The kingdom of Bohemia, with Moravia, recog- 
nized the sovereignty of the German emperor, and the Bohe- 
mian king still followed the banner of Frederic Barbarossa ; 
but after the death of Frederic II. King Ottocar II. became 
almost entirely independent. Prague, on the Moldau, was the 
capital. 

VIII. The archduchy of Austria (Eastern Mark) had 
been separated from Bavaria by Barbarossa in 1154. It was 
strengthened and endowed with privileges in order to enable 

Weiberlreii — woman's faith — which honors its towering fortress. This 
interesting event is recorded in the Chronicle of St.Pantaleon, contem- 
porary with the period. 



the dukes to make efficient defence against the Hungarians on 
the frontier."* Somewhat later it embraced the duchies of 
Styria, Carniola, and Carinthia, with the county of Tyrol. 
AH- these fertile provinces remained for ever hereditary do- 
mains of the Habsburg family after the battle on the March- 
field, near Vienna, in 1278, in which Rudolph of Habs- 
burg defeated King Ottocar of Bohemia, who perished in the 
struggle. 

IX. The duchies of Souabia and Franconia existed no 
more The first was dismembered on the fall of the Hohen- 
staufens, and divided between the nobility and the church. 
Their rich possessions were wasted during the absence of the 
owners in Italy; and the unhappy Conradin gave all away to 
muster the 10,000 knights and men-at-arms for his fatal cam- 
paign to Italy in 1267. Bavaria obtained the Palatinate of 
the Rhine. Only the Counts of "Wuertemburg succeeded in 
placing themselves at the head of the Souabian nobility. 
They had already chosen Stuttgard as their place of resi- 
dence. After them, the Counts of Baden, scions of the Ho- 
henstaufen race, acquired from the house of Zahringen the 
territory of the Breisgau, on the Upper Rhine — the begin- 
ning of the house of Baden. In Franconia the duchy had 
already become extinct, when the succession of the Salic 
house terminated in 1138. It had been divided between the 
ecclesiastical and temporal nobles ; the Hohenstaufens, how- 
ever, took the better part, and were called Dukes of Franco- 
nia, enjoying the palatinate (Ober-Pfalz) and the military ser- 
vice of the feudatories. Large portions were awarded to the 
Bishops of Wuertzburg, Bamberg, and the Abbot of Fulda 
(249). The families of Hohenlohe and Hohenzollern (the 
latter as Burgraves of Ntiremburg) became celebrated in the 
succeeding period. 

400. X. The duchy of Lesser Burgundy — Burgundin 
Minor — embraced at that time Central Switzerland. Schwitz, 
Uri, and Unterwalden, together with the Thurgau, still belong- 
ed to Sovrabia. After the extinction of the Zahringen family, 
the imperial vicariate, or guardianship of the valleys of the 
Alps, was intrusted to the Counts of Habsburg, Kyburg or 
Savoy ; the latter house, in the high Alps, having risen to 
great reputation and power. The Swiss were still a quiet and 
frugal race of herdsmen and hunters, enjoying their indepen- 
dence unmolested under their landamans or presidents, and 
settling all their disputes in their popular assemblies. Several 
cities in Burgundy, such as Zurich, Bern, Soleure, Lausanne, 
Geneve, had become already important by the numbers, wealth, 
and industry of their citizens. 

XI. The kingdom of Burgundy or Arelate (385). 

XII. The duchy of Lorraine already, since the times of 
Otho of Saxony (246), divided into Upper and Lower Lor- 
raine. The former was mostly in the hands of the Bishops of 
Metz, Trives, Sjnre, and Worms ; the rest belonged to the 
Counts of Alsace. The Lower Lorraine had become divided 
among the Dukes of Brabant, the Counts of Holland, Lim- 
btcrg, and Lxitzelburg (Luxemburg), in the forest of Arden- 
nes. The latter family mounted the throne of Germany in 
the fourteenth century. Large possessions belonged to the 
Bishops of LiUtich and Utrecht. On J,he sea-coast lived the 
free-born Frisians, who still with the sword and mace defended 
the independence which they had inherited from their fore- 
fathers. When the German king, William of Holland, in the 
winter of the year 1256, marched against them with his army 
of chevaliers, and crossed the frozen lake near Medenblic, the 

'^* Frederic L, in the act of donation, wrote in the original statute, 
that the new Duke of Austria should rank equal with the ancient J rc/ii- 
ducibus — and, fiom this expression originated the subsequent title of 
Archduke of Austria. 



SEVENTH PEKIOD— A. D. 1096-1300. GEKMAN EMPIRE. 



133 



ice broke under him, and remaining in his mail armor, and 
with his heavy war-horse sticking in the morass, the light- 
footed Frisians rushed upon him, and refusing money and 
promises, killed him with all his helpless men-at-arms. 

401. B. The Ecclesiastical States. — Gtermany, with 
Burgundy and Savoy, included at this period eight archi- 
episcopal provinces : I. Mentz (Mainz), having under its 
jui-isdlction fourteen bishoprics, viz. : — Wonns, Spires, Siras- 
burg, Constance, Coire, Augsburg, Eichstadt, WlXrtzburg, 
Olmutz, Prague, Halberstadt, Hildesheim, Fader born, and 
Yerden ; II. Cologne, with five bishoprics : Liege (Lut- 

tich), Utrecht, Manster, Osnabriick, and Minden ; III. 
Treves (Trier), with three bishoprics : Metz, Toul, and 
Verdicn ; IV. Magdeburg, with five bishoprics : Branden- 
burg, Havelberg, Naumburg, Merseburg, and Meissen ; V. 
Bremen, with three bishoprics : Oldenburg (afterwards Lii- 
beck), Mecklenburg (afterwards Schwerin), and Ratzeburg ; 
VI. Salzburg, with five bishoprics : Ratisbon, Passa-u, 
Freisingen, Brixen, and Gorz (Gurca), and finally the two 
provinces ; VII. Bisuntina, with the archiepiscopal see in 
Besan<^07i, embracing the whole of Burgundy, both the pala- 
tinate and the county of Lesser Burgnindy (Switzerland) on 
both sides of Mount Jura and as far east as the Bernese Alps, 
with the two bishoprics of Bale (Basle), and Lausanne, on the 
Lake of Geneva ; and VIII. Tarantasia, in Savoy, with the 
metropolitan church of Moutier en Tarantaise, on the Upper 
Isere, in the valley of the Little Saint Bernard, and the 
two suffragans of Sedunum (Sion), in Wallis, and Augusta 
(Aosta), in the splendid valley of Dora Baltea, south of the 
pass of Great Saint Bernard. 

Besides these are to be added, Bamberg, which was 
under the immediate control of the Pope, and Cambray, 
under that of the see of Bheims. Altogether they amounted 
to ten archbishoprics, and forty-one bishoprics. There existed, 
moreover, seventy sovereign prelates, abbots, abbesses, and three 
military orders ; thus forming, in the whole, more than one 
hundred ecclesiastical States. 

402. C. The Free Imperial Cities. — The German cities 
had had a rapid development since the tenth century (235). The 
Italian Republics, and the Free Communes in France (307), 
extended their influence to Germany. The emancipation be- 
gan naturally enough with the cities in Burgundy, where the 
internal organization could more easily be formed on account 
of the many relics of ancient Roman municipal institutions 
still existing ; on the foundation of these the independence of 
the cities arose, protected by the kings and clergy, in opposi- 
; en to the nobility. 

Though the political system of the Hohenstaufen emperors 
was adverse to the emancipation of the cities, yet they were 
often obliged, in their contests with the princes and prelates, 
to demand the aid of the faithful and wealthy burgesses, and 
to grant them privileges and immunities. The German cities, 
therefore, during that bustling period, daily increased in po- 
pulation and riches ; and the crusades to the East and on the 
Baltic opened new resources for a more extensive commerce.' ^^ 

"' By commaud of the Pope, every serf who took the cross to proceed 
to the Holy Land would obtain his liberty from his lord ; and thou- 
sands of poor tenants, therefore, swelled the ranks of the crusading 
armies. Others took refuge within the suburbs of the rising cities, 
where they found protection, and were called Pfahlburger, or citizens of 
the stoccade, because they dwelt between the walls and the outworks. 
In case their lords sought to force them to return to their service, the 
powerful cities themselves would take up the quarrel ; and being backed 
by the league, they were able to frustrate all the attempts of the nobles 
to maintain the rigid system of serfdom and vassalage of the earlier cen- 
turies. 



The spirit for great undertakings and speculations was aroused ; 
the costly wares of the southern countries were then brought 
more frequently, and in greater abundance, across the Alps. 
The Italian maritime towns — particularly Venice, Genoa, and 
Pisa — brought the merchandise of the Levant to their 
ports, from which it was conveyed along the commercial roads 
and rivers through the passes of the Alps, to Germany, and 
thence carried further on towards the territories bordering 
upon the North Sea and the Baltic. Thus the German cities 
formed the great emporium of commerce before the extension 
given to the navigation of the Atlantic in the fifteenth cen- 
tury. Augsburg, Slrasburg, Ratisbon, Nuremberg, Bam- 
berg, Worms, Sjnres, and Mainz, in the south and centre of 
Germany ; in the north, Cologne, Erfurt, Brunswick, Liine- 
burg, Hamburg, Bremen, Lubeck, and many others, built 
and extended their walls and towers, and a continually in- 
creasing, active, and industrious population animated their 
streets. Their riches soon gave them the means to purchase 
their freedom from the princes, secular or ecclesiastic, who 
held them in dominion, and who, by their continual feuds, had 
become impoverished, and sought every means to restore their 
exhausted resources. The great point with the citizens was 
to get rid of the imperial or seigneurial bailiff, and to form 
their own municipal government, with civic magistrates or 
consul — Biirgerineister — and councillors — Rathsherren — at 
the head of the executive power ; then to establish their city 
law, — Stadtrecht, — their courts of justice, and arm the citizens 
under the banner of the town. Yet the nobility, when too 
late, began to perceive the danger arising from such numerous 
corporations of organized and armed citizens ; while the towns, 
on the other hand, foreseeing the opposition of the nobles, 
began to strengthen their cause by confederacies for the pro- 
tection of their freedom, their independence, and their com- 
merce generally. 

403. Confederacies of the Cities. — I. The Hansa — 
die Stddte an der See. — Already, early in the middle ages, the 
trading cities of Germany had formed alliances in other coun- 
tries, and there established warehouses and factories. These 
unions were called Hanse. In the eleventh century there 
were German Hanses from Hamburg, Lubeck, Bremen, Co- 
logne, established in London (289). The two former con- 
cluded a treaty together in 1241, against Denmark, from 
whose dominion they had been liberated in 1227 (375). The 
Burgomaster in Lubeck, Alexander von Soltwedel, attacked 
and burnt Copenhagen in 1247. Seven maritime cities, 
Lubeck, Wismar, Rostock, Stralsund, Greifswalde, and Riga, 
together with the Germans at Wisbye, in Gothland, united 
their naval power to force King Eric, Priest-Hater, of Norway, 
to open his ports to these grasping Republicans. Bergen be- 
came afterwards the great emporium for their Norwegian com- 
merce. This confederacy was so wisely organized, that it had 
a rapid development. About the year 1300, it numbered al- 
ready sixty cities from the Lower Rhine, as far as Prussia and 
Livonia ; later it included more than one hundred, and in the 
middle of the fourteenth century, the name of the Hanse be- 
came the dread and dismay of the proud kings of Scandinavia. 
In Germany there belonged to the Union, besides Luebeck and 
Hamburg, Bremen, Stade, Kiel, Wisinar, Rostock, Stralsund, 
Greifsioalde, Stettin, Colberg, Stargard, Salzwedel, Mag- 
deburg, Brunsivick, Hildesheim, Hanover, Limeburg, Osna- 
briick, Manster, Coesfeld, Dortmund, Soest, Wesel, Duisburg, 
Cologne, and others of less note : and confederates out of Ger- 
many — Thorn, Danzig, Konigsberg, Riga, Reval, Narva, 
Wisbye, Stockholm, Novgorod, and others. Afterwards those 
enterprising merchants extended their alliance to the cities on 
the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. France furnished to the 



134 



SEVENTH PEKIOD.— A. D. 1096-1300. ITALIAN REPUELICS. 



confederacy, Calais, Rouen, Si. Malo, Bordeaux, Ba.yonne, 
and Marseilles ; Spain, Barcelona, Seville, and Cadiz ; Eng- 
land, London; Portugal, Lisbon; the Low QtQmxiy:i&^, Antwerp, 
Bruges, Rotterdam, Ostend, and Dunkirk ; Italy, Messina, 
Leghorn and Naples. Lubeck remained at the head of the 
whole confederacy. The deputies from the cities met on their 
reo-ular Hanse days, when assemblies were held. Large bo- 
dies of mercenary troops were taken into pay, and the whole 
military and naval departments were admirably organized un- 
der the supervision of the active and warlike Burgomasters 
of Lubeck. The Hanseatic Union was divided into four sec- 
tions or quarters. I. The Wendish quarter, comprising 
Lubeck, Hamburg, and maritime cities of Pomerania and 
Mecklenburg ; II. The Colognian quarter, with the cities in 
Friesland, Westphalia, and the Low Countries ; III. The 
Brunswick quarter, comprising all the cities between the 
Weser and the Elbe ; IV. The Prussian quarter, with Danzig 
for its capital, and coraprehending all the commercial cities 
east of the Vistula. They wholly monopolized the trade in 
the Baltic, and chiefly that in the North Sea, and had four 
grand fortified depots at Novgorod in Russia, Bergen in 
Norway, Bruges in Flanders, and the Steel-yard in London. 
But the greatest extent of the League, its subsequent arrogant 
and grasping conduct, and its decline, belong to the next and 
last period of the middle ages. 

404. II. The Confederacy of the Rhenish Cities — 
der Rheinische Stddtebund — for ofl'ence and defence, formed 
itself in 1247-55, in imitation of the Hanse, and defended it- 
self successfully against the petty princes on the Rhine, who 
from their castles attempted to stop the navigation of that 
superb river. All the cities from Basle, in Switzerland, down 
to Wesel, joined the confederacy, and even the haughty eccle- 
astic sovereigns, Gerhard of Maintz, Conrad of Cologne, Ar- 
nold of Treves, Jacob of Metz, the Abbot of Fulda — the 
counts, and barons, were forced by the arms of the merchants 
to enter the association. Yet, in spite of the wealth and power 
of its members, the Rhenish Union 9iever acquired the impor- 
tance and renown of the Hanse. The cities lay too much dis- 
persed along the river, separated by the domains of warlike 
nobles ; their interests were too much divided, nor had they 
the means of raising armies under skilful native leaders ; 
foreign troops fought their battles, and though the confed- 
eracy succeeded at the time, it did not obtain any permanent 
influence, and was dissolved before the close of the fourteenth 
century. The Souabian Union arose at the time of the dis- 
solution of the Rhenish League, and was better organized. 

B. ITALY, A. D. 1100-1300. 

405. I. The Italian Cities in the beginning of the 
Twelfth Century. — Two great and populous cities in the 
plain of Lombardy surpassed every other in power and 
wealth : Milan (Milano), which habitually directed the party 
of the church ; and Papia (Pavia), which, in opposition to her 
rival, sided with the great feudatories and the empire. Both 
towns, however, had, during the reigns of Lothaire of Sup- 
plingenburg, and Conrad III. of Hohenstaufen, changed par- 
ties. The rivalry of those two families, the Welfs (Guelfs) 
and the Hohenstaufens (Ghibelines), from 1125 to 1152, ex- 
tended its influence across the Alps to Italy, where the discord 
found a luxurious soil. Milan, victorious over her neighbors, 
had prostrated the towns of Lodi and Como (312) ; the for- 
mer she razed, dispersing the inhabitants in open villages, and 
obliged the latter to pull down its fortifications. Cremona 
and Novara, fearing the same fate, united with Pavia, while 
Tortona, Crema, Bergamo, Brescia, Placentia, and Parma, 



anxious to preserve their republican governments, allied them- 
selves closely with Milan. Among the cities of Piedmont, 
Turin took the lead, and disputed the authority of the pow- 
erful counts of Savoy, who styled themselves imperial vicars 
beyond the Alps. And there the towns were less successful, 
because they were surrounded by the great feudatories, the 
Marquises of Montferrat, and the Counts of Saluzzo and of 
Lomellino, who, in those more remote and mountainous re- 
gions, had survived the civil wars. Yet the want of union 
among the nobles rendered them less dangerous to the cities, 
and the strongly situated Asti was more powerful than they. 
The family of the Veronese marquises, who, from the times 
of the Lombard kings, had to defend the defiles of the Alps 
against the Germans, was extinct, and the great cities of 
Verona, Padua, Vicenza, Treviso, and Mantua, nearly equal 
in power, maintained their independence. Bologna held the 
first rank among the towns south of the Po, and had become 
equally formidable on the side towards Modena and Reggio, 
and, on the other, towards Ferrara, Ravenna, Imola, Faenza, 
Forli, and Rimini. 

Tuscany had likewise seen her powerful marquises become 
extinct with Countess Mathildis, in 1115; and whilst the em- 
perors and popes were quarrelling about the possession of her 
rich inheritance, the small and hitherto insignificant Florence 
began rapidly to rise into power by the destruction of her ancient 
rival, Fiesole, on Mount Apennine, and the command of the 
fertile valley of the Arno. Young and buoyant Florence did 
not yet exercise any dominion over the neighboring towns of 
Pistoja, San Miniato, and Volterra, or over the more remote 
towns of Lucca, Arezzo, Cortona, Perugia and Siena ; but 
she was already considered as the head of the Tuscan League. 
and the more so because rich and enterprising Pisa at 
that period turned all her energies to her commerce and mari- 
time expeditions. The ancient family of the Dukes of Spoleto 
had also become extinct, and the towns of Umbria, without 
yielding to the feeble remonstrances of the Pope, had re- 
gained their freedom ; but their secluded positions in the val- 
leys of Mount Apennine prevented them from rising into im- 
portance. 

Rome herself, the old grandmother, indulged in the same 
spirit of independence which animated her young and nume- 
rous progeny around her. The first great and venerable re- 
former of the middle ages, Arnold of Brescia, the disciple 
of the celebrated and unhappy Abailard, in France, preached 
already, with the Bible in his hand, the reform of Church and 
State. He was called to Rome in 1144, where he, with a 
noble enthus'asm, founded a new Constitution, at the head of 
which he placed a Roman Senate, supported by republican 
assemblies of the people. Pope Eugene III. in vain sent forth 
his thunders, and was obliged to seek a refuge behind the 
walls of Saint Angelo. 

406. The civil feuds between the ruling houses of Germany, 
and the disastrous events of the second crusade of Conrad 
III., had drawn the attention of the emperors away from 
Italy (1137-1154); and during the long struggle of the 
German Guelfs and Ghibelines, the Italian cities had already 
established their independence. The citizens no longer ac- 
knowledged the bishops, counts, or marquises as imperial 
vicars ; nor were the latter able, without support from Ger- 
many, to sustain their authority. The cities had long ago 
elected their magistrates, whom they called Consuls. The 
number of these oflicers differed, in the difi'erent cities, from 
five to twenty. They administered justice, and commanded 
the militia of the towns. They were chosen from the three 
orders, namely : the Capitani, or high feudatories, who 



SEVENTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1096-1300. ITALIAN REPUBLICS. 



135 



sided with the citizens ; the Valvasours or knights, and the 
burghers. The rural nobility, inspired with the enthusiasm of 
the age, enrolled themselves among the citizens, built towers 
and palaces in the towns, and formed the cavah'y of the civic 
armies. A Council of Trust — consilio di credenza — consisting 
of a certain number of citizens of each class, formed the town 
council, which deliberated in secret. On important occasions 
the parliament — condones^ or general comitia of the people — 
were convoked, by the sound of the great bell, to give their 
opinion by acclamation on the propositions which already by 
the consuls had been carried through the Council of Trust. The 
decisions were then promulgated in the name of the popolo or 
commune. There was at that early period no distinction be- 
tween the judicial and executive powers, nor any real legisla- 
tion ; and the right of making laws was still considered as a 
prerogative of the emperor as King of Lombardy, assisted by 
the great feudatories, the bishops and the counts, and by the 
imperial judges, at the general diets convoked for the purpose 
in the plain of Roncaglia, on the banks of the Po. Thus the 
cities still continued to acknowledge, at least nominally, the 
emperor's sovereignty over Italy, his right of exacting mili- 
tary service, of giving investitures of feudal tenures, of appoint- 
ing imperial judges, distinct from the magistrates of the people, 
of demanding the foderum or provisions for his suite or army, 
whenever he crossed the Alps ; and lastly, of sending from 
time to time his missi or vicars, who represented the person 
of the sovereign. Yet the continual dissensions both between 
the feudatories, their vassals and the cities, and between the 
cities against one another, had early called forth a warlike 
spirit, and highly developed military organization. The 
noble citizens made their appearance on horseback in com- 
plete armor ; Milan alone mustered eight thousand men-at- 
arms. The rest of the citizens, according to their rank and 
wealth, formed the infantry, commanded by the consuls. The 
large banner of the city floated from a high pole fixed on a 
huge chariot — carroccio — drawn by teams of oxen. On a plat- 
form in front of the flagstaff stood the leaders of the army, and 
from thence they gave their directions during the combat. The 
carroccio formed the centre of the battle array, and its safety 
was intrusted to s(i[uadrons of the most gallant youths."" 

Yet, most unhappily, every one of the rising republics im- 
mediately turned its activity against its neighbor ; all was 
jealousy and hatred, and the exuberance of animal courage 
among the citizens spurred them to chivalrous battles, or to 
fight without benefit or purpose. This restless spirit and 
political blindness alloyed their real love of freedom^ and made 
them more cruel tyrants to their weaker neighbors than the 
German emperors hitherto ever had been. They played over 
again the tragedy of ancient Hellas, with all the circumstances 
of inveterate hatred, unjust ambition, and atrocious retaliation, 
and thus called down upon themselves the terrible sword of 
Frederic Barbarossa, in 1154. The emperor was victorious ; 
Milan was humiliated and destroyed ; yet the heartless cruelty 
of the conqueror deprived him of the fruits of his triumph. 
The former oppressors became now the oppressed, and the 
iron rod of German despotism weighed heavily on Italy. 
Frederic was entirely ignorant of the great political develop- 
ment which had taken place beyond the Alps. The proud 
German prince was insensible to the beauty of Italian life 
and progress in civilization. In those lively, wealthy, and 

"'This singular custom of the carroccio, which plays so prominent a 
part in the wars of the Italian Republics, was first introduced into 
Milan in 1039 by the unruly Bishop Heribevt, during his contest with 
the nobles. By degrees every city adopted the carroccio, in imitation 
of the ai'k of the Israelites; it became a kind of palladium, the emblem 
of popular independence ; and its loss in battle was considered as the 
greatest dishonor and national oalamitv- 



intelligent republicans, Barbarossa, cold, like the cuirass that 
covered his breast, saw nothing but insolent rebels, pilfering 
usurpers, who, during the disasters of the empire, had robbed 
their master, the Roman emperor, of his rights. His haughty 
bearing at the diet of Roncaglia ; the inhuman treatment of 
Milan, Crema, and other captured cities ; the extravagant in- 
terpretation of the concessions made ; the unsparing rigor of 
the podestas or military governors, whom he imposed on the 
cities even most faithful to his cause, caused a general indig- 
nation throughout Italy. At last the fire broke out into an 
open flame, which blazed forth through all the cities of Lom- 
bardy, and extended to those of the marshes of Verona and 
Treviso, beyond the Adige. In April, 1167, the Lombard 
League of twenty-three cities laid the foundation of the inde- 
pendence of Italy. 

407. II. Cities OF the Lombard League, 1167-1210. — 
I. The Archbishopric of Mediolanum (Milan) was bounded on 
the north by the territory of Como, on the east by that of Ber- 
gamo, from which it was divided by the Adda ; south, it 
touched the territories of Lodi and Pavia ; and west, the Ticino 
separated it from Novara. The province of Milan was thus 
situated in the centre of the great plain of Lombardy, and 
watered by the Lambro, the Olona, and other tributaries of 
the Po. The great canal, il Naviglio Grande^ united the 
Ticino with the Lambro, and flowed around the city. This 
great work, the most admirable hydraulic achievement of the 
middle ages, was undertaken by the Milanese at this period 
of commercial activity. The territory of Milan was divided 
into seven districts : 1 , Mediolamnn, with the capital of that 
name; 2, Martescm.a ; 3, Seprio ; 4, Bulgaria ; 5, Bazana; 
6, Triviglio ; and 7, Staziona, on the Lago Maggiore. 

408. MiLANo, the populous and fortified metropolis, was 
rendered almost impregnable by the broad canals which pro- 
tected the front of its immense walls. These were sixty feet 
in height, defended by many towers, battlements, and barbi- 
cans, rendering the approach extremely difficult. The only 
enemy whom the Milanese feared among so large a popula- 
tion was a famine. All the assaults of Frederic Barbarossa, 
in 1 154 and 1 162, were repelled. The proud emperor was thus 
obliged to transform the siege into a blockade, and cutting oif 
the supplies from abroad, the starving multitudes within the 
walls were soon reduced to the last extremity. The haughty 
chivalry of Germany entered by the breach, and the hard- 
hearted monarch condemned the city to total destruction. 
This cruel and impolitic order was executed to the letter by 
the revengeful Italians of Lodi, Cremona, and Pavia, wtfo re- 
joiced at the fall of their rival. Only the churches and con- 
vents were preserved ; all other public and private dwellings, 
together with the numerous relics of Roman grandeur — such as 
temple-ruins, amphitheatres, and towers — disappeared entirely, 
and the plough was driven through the rubbish.'*' 

Five years after this wanton demolition, the Lombards 
could bear their humiliation no longer; they rffse in their 
might. The cities of Cp>.emona, lately the bitter enemy of 
Milan, Bergamo, Brescia, Mantua, Ferrara, Bologna, 
Parma, Piacenza, Modena, and many others, signed the Lom- 
bard League against the German tyrant, sent off their mili- 
tia to Milan, recalled its dispersed inhabitants, and began 
with true Italian enthusiasm its restoration. Soon the walls 
and towers of the new city rose more formidable than ever ; 
and from that time it withstood all the attacks of its enemies 

'" Milan has at present the aspect of a modern cit3^ ; only eighteen 
weather-beaten marble columns in front of the church Sanct. Ambrogio, 
seem to have befn spared, and remind us of the ancient capital of the 
Ilonian emperon* in the filth century. 



136 



SEVENTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1096-1300. ITALIAN REPUBLICS. 



Tritium (Trezzo), and Vaprio, on the Adda, were cele- 
brated castles. Rosiate, Binascwm, and Mekgtianum, were 
boroughs in the south. Ligna?iicm (Legnano), northwest of 
Milan, in the plain on which was fought. May 29, 1176, the 
decisive battle of Italian liberty. Frederic Barbarossa was 
there defeated by the citizens of Milan and their confederates. 
The brilliant squadrons of the Milanese youths — Icschiere della 
morte — spurred against the German chivalry with such resist- 
less fury that the whole hostile army was routed with tremen- 
dous slaughter. Old Barbarossa falling beneath his wounded 
steed, lay hidden among the slain, like Marshal Bliicher at 
Ligny, 1815, and Avas with difficulty brought away by his 
faithful squires during the darkness of the night. While the 
joyful Italians were revelling after their victory, the van- 
quished emperor, in the disguise of a shepherd, passed their 
lines, and through by-paths succeeded in gaining Pavia, where 
his empress, Beatrix of Burgundy, and the court, were mourn- 
ing his death. The whole German camp was taken ; and the 
Italian prisoners and immense booty were recovered by the 
united Lombards, who by this blow terminated the long and 
bloody struggle in the peace of Constance, in 1183. 

409. II. Bergonium (Bergamo), in a magnificent position, on 
a steep hill, in front of the Alps, and between the rivers Brem- 
ba and Serio, was one of the most active members of the Lom- 
bard confederacy. Puntido, west of Bergamo, was the con- 
vent where the treaty was signed by the Rectors or envoys of 
the cities, on the 7th of April, 1167. 

III. Brexia (Brescia), east of Bergamo, still more cele- 
brated by its heroic resistance during the siege by Frederic II. 
in 1252. The citizens defeated the Ghibelines in every sor- 
tie, and forced the emperor, with dishonor and loss, to raise 
the siege. 

IV. Cremona, situated in a beautiful plain, and encom- 
passed with ditches, walls, and towers, was earlier a Ghibe- 
line city, which had faithfully adhered to the imperial party ; 
but the haughty bearing and cruelty of its German Podestd 
so exasperated the hot-blooded Cremonese that they joined 
their arms to their brethren in the Lombard League in 1 167. 
Soon, however, the old jealousies prevailed again, and the 
fickle Cremona ranged under the Ghibeline banner of Henry 
VI. against the Guelfic Republics, in 1195. Curtis Nova 
(Cortenuova), northeast of Cremona, where Frederic II., by 
skilful manoeuvres, totally defeated the army of the Lombard 
League in 1237. The banner-carriage of the cities was lost, 
together with thousands of prisoners ; and the Hohenstaufen 
star might again have arisen if the arrogance of Frederic, and 
his subsequent defeat before Brescia, had not clouded all the 
prospects of that incorrigible family. 

410. V. BoNONiA (Bologna), the queen of the Romandiola 
(Romagna), south of the Po, was, after Milan, the strongest 
and most tttrbulent of the Italian Republics. Its fertile ter- 
ritory, watered by the Po and its tributaries, the Rheno, Sar- 
vana and Silaro, embraced the counties, Casalecchio, Pdnico. 
Loglano^ Medicina, and Arge.lata, on the lower Po ; and the 
warlike republic extended its dominion over all the smaller 
cities of Romagna (398). 

Bologna was, during the middle ages, a splendid city. 
Situated at the northern base of Mount Apennine, it com- 
manded a most delightful prospect towards the plain and the 
mountains. It was strongly fortified, and divided into four 
wards, the militia of which were led on by their respective 
banner-chiefs — Gonfalonieri. Frowning towers rose proudly 
above the palaces and churches in the interior Many of 



these strongholds have since been broken ; but the Asinelli 
Toiver, 380 feet high, and the somewhat lower Garisefida, 
both inclining several feet from their base, like the celebrated 
hanging tower of Pisa, to this day remind us of the republican 
times of old. Nor was Bologna less celebrated for its flour- 
ishing university, the first of modern Europe, where many 
thousands of students from north and west gathered to listen 
to the lectures of the great professors Irnerius, Bulgarus, 
Martinus de Gosi, Jacobus de Porta Ravennate, and Hugh 
Alberici, the able expounders of the Roman Law, which, after 
the discovery of the Justinian Pandects in 1137, began to be 
studied with renewed enthusiasm throughout all Italy. Bo- 
logna had already obtained its municipal independence by a 
charter from the emperor Henry V. in 1112, which granted it 
the privilege of coining money, and other important regalian 
rights. The citizens assembled in general comitia ; they ap- 
pointed their consuls and other magistrates. The nobles, who 
held feudal castles in the environs, were obliged to apply for 
citizenship in the town, and take up their residence among the 
burghers. These fierce republicans strenuously supported the 
Lombard League. They defeated King Enzio, the son of 
Frederic II., in the battle at Fossalta, in 1246, and kept the 
unhappy prince in captivity until his death, in 1272. 

The factions of the Guelfs and Ghibelines proved the ruin 
of the prosperity and independence of Bologna. Ambitious 
and rival families sided under either banner. A private crime 
of the proud Lambertazzi, the head of the Ghibeline party, 
brought on the most frightful disasters."^ The offended Ge- 
remei, the chief family of the Guelfs, drove the former, at the 
sword's point, out of the city, in 1274, with fifteen thousand of 
their partisans and defendants, who, finding support among 
the nobles in the mountains, led on by Guido da Montefeltro, 
Lord of Urbino, renewed the war, until Pope Nicholas III. 
procured the recall of the exiles. 

411. VI.-XII. Venice, Vicenza, Padua, Trevizi, 
MoDENA, Parma, and Piacenza, took all a more or less act- 
ive part in the Lombard League. At Venice, on the square 
of Saint Marc, the humbled Barbarossa bowed down before 
the Pope Alexander III., and concluded the armistice with 
the Republics in 1177, which was followed by their indepen- 
dence at the peace of Constance in 1183. On the plain of Ron- 
caglia, east of Piacenza, the diets of the German kings and 
emperors were held in the presence of the feudatories and the 
deputies from the Italian cities. There laws were promul- 
gated, and the feudal armies of Germany and Italy passed in 
review before the imperial tent. The splendid camps of so 
many thousands of princes and barons, adorned with shields, 
banners, and all the pomp of chivalry, extended for miles along 
the banks of the Nura and the Po. Religious processions al- 

'^^Imilda de' Lambertazzi loved the young Boniface Geremei, 
whose family had long been separated by the most inveterate enmity 
from her own. During a secret interview, the lovers were suiprised 
by the Lambertazzi, the brothers of the young lady. Imilda escaped, 
but the lover was stabbed to the lieart by the poisoned daggers of the 
Lambertazzi. In her despair, Imilda returned; she found his body stiU 
warm, and a faint hope suggested the remedy of sucking the venom 
from his wounds. But it only communicated itself to her veins ; and 
the two unhappy lovers were found by her attendants stretched lifeless 
by each other's side. So cruel an outrage wrought the Geremei to 
madness : they formed an alliance with the democratic party in the 
city, and with some neighboring re])ublies : the Lambertazzi took the 
same measures among the nobility, and after the most frightful battle 
in the streets of Bologna of forty days' duration, wherein palaces and 
towers were stormed, and part of the city destroyed, all the Ghibe- 
lines were driven out, their houses razed, and their estates confiscated. 
[See the entertaining account of the revolution of Bologna, in Simonde 
de Sismondi's History of the Italian Republics. Tome III., pp. 442 et 
seq.] 



SEVENTH PERIOD.— A. P. 1096-1300. GHIBELINE PRINCIPALITIES. 



137 



ternated with tournaments and banquets. From the Roncag- 
lian plain the emperors generally went to Monza, near Milan, 
to take the iron crown of Lombardy, and disbanding the feu- 
dal armies they then returned to Germany. Such had been 
the custom for centuries, during the reign of the Saxon, Sa- 
lian, Franconian, and Souabian dynasties, until the time of 
Frederic I., when the victory of the Lombard Republics occa- 
• sioned a total change in the relations between Italy and the 
Germanic empire. Guelfic cities in the west were Cairium 
(Chieri), Asta (Asti), and Taurinum (Turin), which defended 
themselves against the imperial feudatories, the Marquises of 
Montferrat and Malaspina, and the Counts of Savoy and Sa- 
luzzo. They were therefore attacked by Frederic Barbarossa 
in 1154, and either demolished or given to the Marquis of 
Montferrat. 

412. XIII. Terdona (Tortona), on the Scrivia, south of 
the Po, the faithful ally of Milan, was considered as the bul- 
wark of the Guelfic cities. Situated on a steep height and 
strongly fortified, the heroic Tortonese withstood all the at- 
tacks of 100,000 Germans, and set a glorious example to the 
Lombard cities in their struggle for independence. Without 
relief from her allies, however, Tortona fell at last, in April, 
1 155, and was ruthlessly destroyed by Barbarossa ; the proud 
ruins of the upper town still commemorate the fortitude and 
perseverance of the Italian Republicans of the twelfth cen- 
tury. XIV. Alessandria deHa paglia (the straw-thatched 
Alexandria) was built by the united efforts of the League, 
during the war, as a protection for Milan against the Ghibe- 
line princes of Piedmont. That strong fortress is situated in 
an excellent military position at the junction of the Tanaro 
and Bormida ; it received its name in honor of the Pope Al- 
exander III. the head of the League, and in spite of the dis- 
dainful nickname of della paglia, it was speedily garrisoned by 
fifteen thousand combatants, who gallantly frustrated all the 
efforts of Frederic I. to destroy the rising city. XV. Como, 
and XVI. Lodi, though old enemies of Milan, were forced 
by their position to join the League : so were XVII. the fickle 
Vercelli, and XVIII. Novara, though they afterwards 
changed sides according to the interest of the moment. The 
League was soon strengthened by new members, viz. Mantua, 
important by its central position on the Adige, Ravenna, 
Rimini, Reggio, and Bobbio. All re-established their consu- 
lar governments, and a kind of federal diet was assembled at 
Modena, composed of envoys from the various cities, who 
were styled Rectors of the League. But this appearance of 
a real federal union lasted only as long as the contest with 
Frederic Barbarossa, and dissolved itself quickly after the 
general peace of Constance in 1183. 

413. III. Ghibeline Cities and Principalities in North- 
ern Italy. — Pavia, the ancient capital of the Lombard kings 
(152), was the only one among the imperial or Ghibeline cities 
which remained the faithful ally of the Hohenstaufens, and even 
she was afterwards forced, by the preponderating influence of 
Milan, to side with the rest. Como, Lodi, Cremona, Vercelli, 
and Novara had the same fate ; and only Parma, by its 
strength and position, was enabled more effectually to support 
the imperial cause, until she too, in 1248, by her rebellion, 
gave the sinking power of Frederic II. the last blow, from 
which it never rose again. 

The following principalities were Ghibeline : I. The mar- 
quisate of Montferrat, in an important position between 
Asti and Pavia, rose from a small beginning, in the course 
of the tenth century, by donations of the emperors, to become 
one of the most distinguished families in the twelfth.'*' II. The 

'*" Conrad of Montferrat was the fellow-crusader of Kinj Lion- 

18 



margravate of Malaspina, south of the former, along Mount 
Apennine, embraced the important Bobiiim (Bobbio), on 
the upper valley of the Trebia, the defile of Pontremoli, and 
the Litnisiana, on the frontiers of Tuscany. By thus pos- 
sessing the keys to the Yal d^Arno, the Margraves of Ma- 
laspina held in their hands the balance of power between 
the Ghibeline chiefs in the north, and the rich Florentine 
Guelfs in the south ; and they knew cleverly how to play the 
dice. 

III. The county of Savoy, in the Alps. The history of 
the house of Savoy is one of the most interesting among 
the royal dynasties of Europe. By the eminent talents of 
the chiefs, and the unclouded success which attended their 
arms, they formed in the course of centuries that magnificent 
kingdom on both sides of the Alps and the shores of the 
Mediterranean, from which we in future hope and expect the 
deliverance and regeneration of Italy. The ancient Counts of 
Mauriana received from Henry V. of Germany the investiture 
of all Savoy as an imperial county. The counts successively 
extended their sway over parts of Burgundy and Piedmont, 
and possessed in the time of the Souabian dynasty the follow- 
ing provinces; A. North of the Alps; 1, the county of Sa- 
vnja, with the city of Cliianibery ; 2, the county of Taran- 
tasia (Tarantaise), commanding the defile over the Montem 
Maledictum (Lesser Saint Bernard), into the valley of Aosta; 
3, the county of Mauriana (Maurienne), on the south, lead- 
ing to the defile of Mount Cenis (155); 4-6, the baronies of 
Bugey, Jays, and Aile ; 7, the county of ■FFaac?i,(Vaud) with 
parts of Lesser Burgundy, such as Mouldon, Morat, Lau- 
sanne, Vivis (Vevay), and the castle of Chillon, on the beau- 
tiful lake Leman; and 8, the duchy of Chiablesa (Chablais), 
on the southern banks of that lake.''-"* B. South of the Alps ; 
9, the duchy of Avosta (Aosta), in the fertile valley of the 
Dora Baltea, with the city of Castillione and the castle of 
Bardone defending the descent to the plain of Piedmont; 10, 
the principality of Intramonti (Piedmont); and 11, the 
marquisate of Susa, at the foot of the Graian Alps, Such a 
union of provinces, commanding the defiles of the western 
Alps, placed the Counts of Savoy in hostile relations to their 
neighbors ; but they defended their position with remarkable 
bravery and success. Count Amadous III., the crusader, 
founded the splendid abbey of Raiitecombe, on the Lake of 
Annecy, in Savoy. His son, Humbert III., the saint, com- 
pelled the Marquis of Saluzzo to acknowledge himself his 
vassal. He followed the banner of Frederic Barbarossa as 
feudatory of Burgundy, but when the scale of battle turned 
against the emperor, he kept aloof, and was punished with 
the loss of part of his dominions, and the destruction of Susa 
by the Germans in 1174, where the archives of the house of 
Savoy are said to have perished in the flames. His succes- 
sors acted with admirable tact during the long struggle of the 
Guelf and Ghibeline parties; and though the dynasty of 
Savoy became split into two lines in 1285, the one in Savoy 

Heart of England ; a successor of that daring chief, Boniface of Mont- 
ferrat, conquered the kingdom of Thessalonika in 1205 (354); and the 
unfortunate William of Montferrat, who died in 1292, was father-in-law 
to the Greek emperor, Andronicus Palaeologus. 

•3" The sliores of the lake were inherited by Count Peter of Savoy 
(1203-1268), a wise and chivalrous prince. He had long resided at the 
court of Henry III. of England, who, admiring his excellent qualities, 
made him Earl of Richmond, and gave him for his residence the palace 
called Savoy House, on the banks of the Thames. It was to the friendship 
of Richard of Cornwall, who was elected King of Germany, that Count 
Peter owed those extensive grants in Burgundy (Switzerland). Peter 
died at his favorite residence, the romantic castle of Chillon, in 1268, 
and lies- buried in the abbey of Hautecombe. See interesting details 
in Johannes von Miiller's History of the Svnss Cantons. Book I., 
chap. 16. 



138 



SEVENTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1096-1300. ITALIAN REPUBLICS. 



and the other in Piedmont, both were fortunately united again 
in 1363."' 

414. IV. The Second Lombard League and the Ghibe- 
LINE Principality of the Marca Trevisana, a. d. 1224- 
1268. — After the glorious peace of Constance, in 1183, Lom- 
bardy soon fell back into anarchy and civil feuds. The league 
was dissolved ; the old animosities of the fiery republicans 
of so many contending cities broke forth with renewed fury. 
Milan again took the lead in the movement. Yet this time 
she suffered in her own bosom from intestine factions. Who 
could quell the hydra of civil discord, if not a distinguished 
foreign warrior, honest, impartial, unambitious ? Such a chief, 
who, indifferent to the parties, would stand between them, 
and keep all alike down with the sword, the short-sighted Mil- 
anese believed they had found in Uberto Visconti, of Piacenza, 
whom they not only, in 1186, called to take the command of 
the republic, but even gave the formerly so odious name 
of Podesta — a name and office that had caused such gene- 
ral detestation throughout Italy during the reign of Frederic 
Barbarossa. The republic had scornfully rejected the good- 
natured and bluff German captains — now they chose the most 
reckless and unsparing of Italian tyrants. What a singular 
debility in human nature, and how often repeated in history ! 
The Italians themselves call in their future oppressors, and 
give them the ominous name of Podesta ! Milan, however, 
was at the height of her power ; the number of her citizens 
was 200,000; she counted 13,000 private houses; her war- 
like nobility alone dwelt in sixty streets, all bristling with 
towers and battlemented palaces. The province of Milan 
itself furnished 240,000 combatants, and was defended by 
150 castles, with adjoining boroughs. It was then that Milan, 
not content with the privileges obtained at the peace of Con- 
stance, and impelled by her hatred toward the family of the 
Hohenstaufens, placed herself at the head of a second league 
against Frederic II. All the cities of Central Lombardy, be- 
tween the Sesia and the Adige, the Alps and the Ligurian 
Mountains — Pavia and Lodi, the subjects of Milan, Brescia, 
Bergamo, Piacenza, Mantua, Alessandria, and others, took up 
arms. Only Cremona and Parma remained still defenders of 
the empire. But the old spirit of independence no longer in- 
spii-ed the confederates ; it was only a party struggle, fomented 
by violent Popes. The cities were defeated, and but for the 
rebellion of Parma in 1248, and the death of Frederic in 1250, 
the scale might yet have turned in favor of the Ghibeline 
arms. The cities of the March of Verona — Marca Trevisana 
— between the Adige, the Alps and the Adriatic — Verona, 
Bassano, Vicenza, Trident, Padua, and Treviso suffered a 
Rtill greater defeat by the terrible Eccelino of Romano, the 
devoted Ghibeline feudatory of the Souabian dynasty. By ex- 
traordinary bravery, and unparalleled cruelty, he subdued the 
cities and put down the Guelfic party by the edge of the 
sword and the axe; and it was not until the year 1259 that 
a crusade preached by the pope put an end to the life and the 
tyranny of the monster, and liberated the shaken republics 
of northern Italy. 

Yet the free constitutions could not be restored. Milan 
had already passed through another revolution, which placed 

'" A detailed history of Savoy would be highly interesting. Under 
continual wars with the nobles of Dauphin^, the Swis-, and the liou.se 
of Visconti, the Counts of Savoy nevertheless made the most important 
acquisitions: Faucigny, in 1233; Beauge and Bresse, 1285; Ivrea, in 
1350. Nizza, and many othei- Italian cities, surrendered voluntarily to 
the distinguished Aniadeus VII. Geneva placed herself under ihe protec- 
tion of the powerful counts in 1401, and the Emperor Sigismond raised 
them to the ranks of Dukeg of Savoy in 1410. A good history of Savoy 
is yet to ba written. 



the mechanics and lower classes, who formed an armed confra- 
ternity under the name of Credenza di Sant^ Ambrogio, in 
opposition to the wealthy citizens — La Motta — and the nobles. 
Neither the podesta nor the consuls could restore order among 
the infuriated parties. A foreign prince, with his mercenary 
condottieri, was therefore called in, and the political power — la 
signoria — was intrusted to him for several years. These sig- 
nori thus sprung up in every part of Lombardy and Romagna; 
surrounded by their men-at-arms — lancie, barbnte — and a nu- 
merous infantry, they took possession of the castles, and ob- 
taining the imperial vicariate from the German king for ready 
money, or the enfeoffment of the pope, they crushed the par- 
ties, together with the constitutions, and rendered themselves 
absolute sovereigns of the deluded commonwealths. Thus 
arose in the course of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, 
the principalities of the Visconti in Milan, the Langoschi in 
Pavia, the Gonzaga in Mantua, the Este in Ferrara, the Delia 
Scala in Verona, the Carrara in Padua, the Rusconi in Co- 
mo, the Pichi in Mirandola, the Pii in Carpi, the Polenta in 
Ravenna, the Malatesta in Rimini, the Ordelaffi in Forli, the 
Manfredi in Faenza, the Alidosi in Imola, the Varani in Ca- 
merino, the Montefeltri in Urbino, and others. The courts of 
these petty tyrants were the seats of learning, art, and ele- 
gance, on the one hand ; and the most awful crimes and cor- 
ruption on the other ; the highest enjoyments of civilization 
alternating with the most violent catastrophes. The condot- 
tieri, with their hired bands of mail-clad men-at-arms, were as 
perfidious as the princes who had taken them into service, and 
they sometimes succeeded in mounting the throne themselves, 
as Francesco Sforza that of Milan in 1460. Only a few states, 
such as Venice, Florence, Genoa, and some smaller ones, de- 
fended the republican institutions, at least in the form, though 
they were not more fortunate than the others, and still more 
tyrannized by the fearful despotism of the nobili, as in Venice, 
by the anarchy among the civic classes in Florence, or the 
ambition and continual feuds of the aristocratical families in 
Genoa. 

415. GuELFic AND Ghibeline States of Tuscany. — 
The great contest between the Emperors and the Popes about 
the inheritance of the Countess Mathildis (312), had remaintd 
unsettled. The duchy of Spoleto, and the marches of Ancona, 
reverted to the church, but Tuscany, as an ancient fief of the 
empire, continued for a long time to be ruled by a marquis 
as imperial vicar, though the flourishing cities of that province 
organized themselves, in the spirit of the time, as independent 
republics. In these exertions they were encouraged by Pope 
Innocent III., who succeeded in forming a Guelfic Cotifeder- 
acy in Tuscany for the support of the Roman see, in imita- 
tion of that of Lombardy. The Tuscan republics were more 
attached to the Pope than the Lombards, and their league was 
expressly established for the honor and aggrandizement of 
the apostolic see. These cities were, Florence, Pistoja, Luc- 
ca, Siena, Volte^-ra, and Arezzo, while Pisa remained 
strongly attached to the empire, and was considered as the 
head of the Ghibeline party in Tuscany. The feudatories 
and nobles who, by their opposition to the cities, appeared as 
zealous Ghibelines, were the count-palatines of Tuscia, on the 
southwestern co^ast of Massa and Carrara, the Gherardeschi 
and the lldebrandeschi, on the coast, the TJberti and the Paz- 
zi, in the upper Val d'Arno, the JJbaldini in the Mugello, the 
powerful Guidi in the Casentino, the Tarlati in the Val di 

Chiana, and many other noble families residing in their cas- 
tles on both slopes of Mount Apennine. 

416. I. The Republic of Florentia (Firenze), toward tha 
beginning of the fourteenth century, was, by Mount Apennine, 



SEVENTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1096-1300. ITALIAN REPUBLICS. 



139 



separated ou the north frora the territory of Bologua, and on 
the east from Romagna ; yet it possessed the counties of Mu- 
tilgnano and Mangona on its eastern slope. On the south it 
touched the republics of Arezzo and Siena, and on the west 
those of Pisa and Lucca. Its natural divisions were, on the 
east the valleys of the Mugello and Casentino, on the south 
the valdi Chiana towards Arezzo, on the west the ■va/c/'ii/sa, 
on the north the fiercely contested val di Nievole towards 
Lucca, and in the centre the fertile and beautiful valleys of 
the Arno, the Greba, and the Pesa. From the time of the 
death of the Countess Mathildis, in 1 1 15, Florence and the 
other cities of Tuscany began to govern themselves as inde- 
pendent commonwealths, under the mighty protection of the 
popes. Florence had then a very limited territory — Contado 
— extending only a few miles round its walls ; but the indus- 
try and speculative spirit of its citizens wonderfully enriched 
them. They had already commercial establishments in the 
Levant, in France, and in Flanders ; they were money-lenders, 
jewellers, and goldsmiths. After having put an end to their 
rivalry with Fiesole on Mount Apennine by the destruction of 
that ancient city, the Florentines enlarged the circuit of their 
city in 1078 ; they defeated the imperial vicar and his knights 
at Monte Cascioli^ in 1113, during the lifetime of the old count- 
ess, and soon appeared at the head of the Guelfic cities against 
the Ghibeline feudatories of Mount Apennine. This brilliant 
development of a community of merchants and mechanics, 
forced the nobles to seek their alliance, to sue for the citizen- 
ship, and to take up their residence within the walls of the 
town. Yet this otherwise invigorating union led to new inter- 
nal disturbances, raised first in 1177 by the powerful family 
of the Tiber ti, and in 1215 by the Buondehnonti and Dn- 
nati, which, after much bloodshed, and the destruction of the 
numerous towers and castles of these proud families in the 
city, terminated with the banishment of the whole Grhibeline 
party."'* 

All the attempts of the Ghibelines to return sword in 
hand were foiled, and the Florentines gradually became a stout, 
warlike people, who, not content with ruling over their com- 
munity, marched boldly against Pistoja, Pisa, and Lucca. They 
likewise attacked the Grhibeline feudatories, the Ubaldini, and 
the Guidi, in the Apennines ; in 1254, they took Volterra, 
and extended their commerce and industry with the success 
of their armies. Florence, however, in imitation of the Lom- 
bard republics, not secure under her consuls and anziani, 
placed a stranger as a condottiere, with his mercenary soldiery, 
at the head of her government. Another stranger, generally a 
neighboring nobleman, took the command of the civic compa- 
nies of the sestieri, or wards. The victories of the brave King 
Manfred of Naples, in 1260, enlivened the hopes of the Ghi- 
belines ; they gathered their strength under the experienced 
Farinata degli Uberti, and defeated the Florentine army at 
Monte Aperto, with so tremendous a loss, that they victoriously 
took possession of Florence herself The ascendency of the 
Florentine Ghibelines was, however, of short duration. They 
stood and fell with the Hohenstaufens, in Germany and Na- 
ples; the defeat and death of King Manfred, in 1266, and the 
still more tragical fate of the young and hopeful Conradino, 
in 1268, decided their overthrow and expulsion. The Guelfs, 
supported by King Charles of Anjou and Naples, now ruled 
the republic ; but tranquillity was not restored, for the victors 

'■'- A nobleman of the family of the Buondelmouti had been be- 
trothed to a young lady of the Uberti, whom he abandoned to marry 
another of the family of the Donati. The Uberti, resenting the insult, 
formed a conspiracy, and Mosca Lamberti exclaiming, cosa fatta capo 
hA, they assaulted and stabbed Buondelmonti on the bridge of Arno, 
and caused all Florence to rise in arms, supporting the one or the other 
party. See Storii Fiorentine, by Niccolo Machiavelli, Libro II., and Sis- 
mondi's Italian Republics, chap. XIII. 



themselves divided into two hostile parties — the White and 
the Black — i Biandn ed i Neri. The first, who formed the 
moderates, who desired a compromise with the unhappy Ghi- 
belines, were in their turn expelled. Among them was the 
great statesman and greater poet Dante Alighieri, who, like 
most of the banished Whites, turned all his hope toward the 
generous German Emperor, Henry VII. of Luxemburg, and 
became a stout Ghibeline. In spite of all these commo- 
tions, Florence continued a populous and wealthy republic, 
more and more firmly consolidating its admirable democratic 
government. The city itself, situated on the beautiful banks 
of the Arno, became, during this interesting period, adorned 
with magnificent public buildings, the huge cathedral of Santa 
Maria del Fiore, of white and black marbles, the embattled 
Palazzo Vecchio, with its mighty tower, on the great square 
(1298), and other masterpieces of architecture, by Arnolfo di 
Lapo and Filippo Brunelleschi. Thus art and science went 
hand in hand with commerce and industry."^ But the military 
honor of the Florentines suffered terribly by the numeroua 
defeats which they sustained by the indifference or treachery 
of their condottieri or by the bustling indiscipline of their 
citizen-soldiers, who so often were prostrated by the lances of 
the Pisan chivalry. 

> 
417. II. The republic of Pisa extended from the Val di 
Nievole, along the lower Arno, to the coast of the Tuscan 
Sea. Its territory reached north to the river Macra, embracing, 
at times, the valley of Lujiigiana and the wild region of Gar- 
fagnana on Mount Apennine, and south along the Maretnme 
to the promontory of Piombino. Off the coast it possessed the 
smaller islands: Melloria, Gorgona, Capraja, Flanusa, Elba, 
Giglio, and Giamcli, together with the southwestern part of 
Sardi7tia, and the eastern coast of Corsica. Pisa was situated 
on the banks of the lower Arno, four miles from Porto Pisano 
at the mouth of that river. The town was divided by the 
Arno into two nearly equal parts, connected by three bridges ; 
the magnificent quays along the banks were lined with palaces, 
and in the interior the pilgrim of the middle ages admired a 
number of wonderfully beautiful buildings in the early Gothic 
architecture — the cathedral, baptistery, belfry and the Campo 
Santo — of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. More than 
150,000 daring and active citizens, under their annual consuls 
and their bishops, hoisted their flag on every coast of the 
Mediterranean. About the year 1070 began her wars with 
the Genoese, which continued with various interruptions for 
more than two centuries, and ended with the downfall of noble 
and faithful Pisa. So strong were the Pisans at the time, 
that they sent an armament of three hundred ships of 
various sizes, having on board thirty-five thousand men and 
nine hundre^ horses, to the Balearic islands, which they 
conquered from the Arabs in conjunction with Count Ray- 
mondo IV. of Barcelona in 1117. Pisa took a glorious part 
in all the crusades on the coast of Syria, where she possessed 
factories and fortified bazaars. She remained the staunch 
ally of the Frederics during their good and evil fortune, but 
in 1282 she lost the great naval battle against the Genoese 
off the island of Melloria, in which, after the most desperate 
struggle, three thousand of her bravest warriors perished and 
thirteen thousand were carried prisoners to Genoa. Shortly 
after Corrado Doria attacked the Porto Pisano, at the mouth 
of the Arno, destroyed its towers, docks and naval establish- 
es j),ji.jfig this brilliant period of Florentine history they iirst 
coined their golden florins of twenty-four carats, and the weight of a 
drachm, bearing the impression of John the Baptist, the patron of the 
city, and a lily, the device of Florence. The florin was then considered 
the finest coin in all Europe, and the Florentine merchants were flaf^ 
tered by princes and nations, enjoying every where extensive privileges 
and the highest reputation for integrity. 



140 



SEVENTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1096-1300. TUSCANY— ROME. 



inents, captured its galleys, and sunk wrecks filled with stones 
at the entrance. From this blow unhappy Pisa never recov- 
ered. She lost her rank as a maritime power, after a glorious 
career of four centuries ; Venice and Genoa were left alone 
to dispute for the naval supremacy of the Mediterranean, and 
after another century of the most astonishing display of faith 
and valor, brilliant victories and ci'ushing defeats, Pisa bowed 
beneath the impending fate and opened her gates in 1405 to 
her mortal enemies — the Florentines. 

418. III. The republic of Siena was bounded by Florence 
on the north, Pisa and the palatinate of Tuscia on the west, 
Arezzo on the east, and the papal states on the south. The 
city of Sena (Siena) on its hills in the centre of Tuscany, was 
one of the most picturesque towns of mediaeval Italy. What 
traveller can without admiration and delight visit her vener- 
able cathedral and other splendid churches, her Piazza del 
Campo, the forum of the ancient republic, with its huge city 
hall, and the Mangia tower, from the battlements of which he 
still discovers scores of embattled palaces and towers rising 
proudly above the mass of houses and streets below. The 
Sienese were likewise staunch Ghibelines. Siena extended her 
dominion over the Maremnie, occupying the Tuscan palatinate, 
but she never Became a naval power like Pisa. Her republi- 
can career was stormy, and after the fall of the house of 
Souabia in 1268, she soon fell under theGuelfic influence of 
Charles of Anjou at Naples. 

419. IV. The republics of Arezzo and Lucca took like- 
wise an active part in the wars and revolutions of the thir- 
teenth century. The former as the retreat and asylum of the 
exiles from Florence ; the latter, under its great citizen and 
chief Castruccio Casti-acani (1313-1328), renewing the droop- 
ing courage of tlie imperial party. 

420. Other Cities, Castles, and Historical Sites in 
Tuscany. — Vallombrosa, the celebrated convent, was situated 
in a magnificent.pine forest on the height of Mount Apennine, 
overlooking the upper valley of the Arno. The order of Val- 
lombrosa was founded about the year 1039 by Giovanni Gual- 
berto a young nobleman from Val di Pisa. The monasteries 
of Camaldoli, San Romualdo and Paradisino^ were estab- 
lished by Saint Romuald, the founder of that order in 1012, 
among woody dells on the eastern slope of the mountain. Cam- 
paldino in the Casentino, where in the year 1289 the great l)at- 
tle was fought between the Guelfs of Florence and the Ghibeline 
exiles — sbanditi. Young Dante Alighieri, then still a Guelf, 
fought in the van of the cavalry and decided the victory for 
the Florentines. B'lonte Aperto, on the Arbia, east of Siena, 
where the Florentine democrats suffered the great defeat 
from the exiled Ghibelines and the German cavaliers of King 
Manfred, in 1265, with the loss of the carroccio, 10,000 slain 
and 30,000 prisoners. Pistoja, a beautiful city at the foot of 
the Apennine, where in 1296-1300 arose the feud between the 
Bianchi and Neri (White and Black), which spread to Florence 
and caused the exile of Dante and thousands of patriots. 
AUo-Pascio, a castle on the lake Fucecchio, where the Seign- 
ior of Lucca, Castruccio Castracani, by a shrewd stratagem, 
defeated the Florentine army in 1325. Poggibo?izi, on the 
road to Siena, where, at the neighboring Buonconvento, the 
chivalrous and honest Emperor Henry VII. of Luxem- 
burg was poisoned in the sacrament by a monk, a. d. 1313. 
Monte- Varchi, in the Val di Chiana, Monte-Murlo, near Pis- 
toja, Serravalle, Monte Catini and Monte Sumano, the latter 
in the beautiful Val di Nievole, were all strong castles and 
fortified boroughs, of melancholy memory to the Florentines, 
who there suffered the most disgraceful defeats from the 



Ghibelines of Pisa, or from their own exiled nobility. Par- 
tus Liburni (Livorno, Leghorn), on the coast opposite to ths 
isle of Melloria, was then a small and insignificant harbor. 

VII. Supremacy of the Roman See under Pope 
Innocent III. 

421. Extent and Acquisitions. — The Sovereignty of the 
Church, for which Gregory VII. labored and died, was at last 
attained by Innocent III. at the beginning of the thirteenth 
century. This young and ambitious pope (1198-1216) re- 
newed all the arrogant pretensions of the Roman See to the 
pretended donations of Constantino, Pepin and Charlemagne. 
The circumstances of the time were favorable, during the mi- 
nority of Frederic II. The duchy of Sjwleto, the March of Ayi- 
cona, and the greater part of Romagna, as allodial possessions 
of Countess Mathildis, were occupied by the pope, who not 
being strong enough to keep such extensive territories under 
the Keys of Saint Peter, granted them as fiefs to the Marquis 
of Este. Thus the temporal sovereignty of the Bishop of 
Rome at last extended over the greater part of Central Italy, 
entirely independent of the German empire. 

422. Provinces and Cities. — I. Patrimonium Sancti 
Petri (311) consisting of, A. The city of Rome with its 
environs; B. Txt&cia Romana, north of the Tiber; C. Sabijia; 
D. Campania (the valley of Ferentino and Anagnia) ; E. Mari- 
tima, the Pontine Swamps and the coast of Ostia, with the 
counties of Savelli and Frangipani. Astura^ a city on the sea- 
shore, where the unhappy young Conradino of Souabia, after 
his defeat at Tagliacozzo in 1268, on his flight was betrayed 
and captured by the perfidious Giovanni Frangipani of Astura. 
II. The duchy of Spoleto with the cities of Spoleto^ Perugia 
and Assissi, with the sepulchre of the fanatic Saint Francis, 
the founder of the Franciscan order of Mendicant Monks in 
1210. Near Bibbiena, in the high i-ange of the Apennines, 
stands the famous Convent of Laverna, still inhabited by a 
host of his Capuccin disciples. III. The March of Ancona, 
on the east of the Apennines, with the counties of Montefel- 
tro, Brancaledne^ Fabriano, and Yarani. Ancona was then 
a powerful commercial city, with a republican form of gov- 
ernment and the most friendly relations to the Emperors 
of Constantinople. Being a stronghold of the Guelfs and a 
dangerous rival of Venice, Ancona was in 1174 blockaded by 
the Venetian fleet, and at the same time closely besieged by 
the imperial army of Frederic Barbarossa, commanded by 
the jolly Archbishop Christian of Maintz. But the citizens 
defended themselves with heroical fortitude, and though suf- 
fering from the continual assaults of the drunken Germans, 
and from the most fearful famine in the city, yet they alike 
victoriously repelled the foes without and within, and on the ap- 
proach of the army of the Lombard League, the bragging prelate 
raised the siege and made a speedy retreat."'' IV. The prov- 
ince RoMANDioLA (Roiuagua), north of the March of Ancona, 

■" The Archbishop of Maintz is an interesting specimen of a prelate 
of the twelfth century. His holiness read the mass with great dignity; 
he spoke eloquently the German, French, Dutch, Greek, Lombard, and 
Chaldaic languages. He mounted his war-steed like the boldest knight; 
wore a purple garment over his mail-armor, a golden helmet on his 
head, and brandished a heavy battle mace with iron spikes in his 
hand. He had slain nine enemies in battle, and as a severe judge had 
himself knocked out the teeth of numerous malefactors in the tribunal. 
The ecclesiastics and women of his camp were so well drilled in sieges 
that they had stormed and taken several almost impregnable castles; 
nay, it was even said tliat fair ladies and fleet horses were more expen- 
sive to the jolly archbishop than the whole imperial court to Frederic 
Barbarossa. See for curious details, Raumer's Hohcnstaufen, Vol. II 
page 237. 



SEVENTH PEEIOD.— A. D. 1096-1300. NAPLES. 



141 



with the counties of Traversaria, Argenta, Bas.nacavallo^ 
Barbiano, Britonoro, and Malatesta^ and the small quiet 
Republic of San B'larino, still existing to the present day. 
Cities were Rimini, Ravenna, Sarsina, Favcnza, and Imo- 
la. The bold unruly character of the Romagnoles gave the 
popes more trouble than pleasure at the acquisition of that 
distant province. V. The city and territory of Bencvento in 
the kingdom of Naples. 

VIIT. THE ANJOU DYNASTY IN NAPLES. 

423. Conquest of Naples' and Downfall of the Sotja- 
BiAN House. — Neither the talents of Frederic II. nor the chiv- 
alrous bravery of King Manfred, his son, nor the youthful enthu- 
siasm of his nephew, Conradino, were able to save the doomed 
house of Hohenstaufen. It was crushed by the inveterate 
hatred of four successive popes ; and the invasion of Naples 
by Charles of Anjou, the brother of St. Louis, brought the 
fickle Neapolitan people under a French dynasty, that for 
nearly two centuries — 1266-1442 — contributed more to its 
corruption and misery, than to its civilization and prosperity. 
The Sicilians, however, soon rid themselves of the French ad- 
venturers by the massacre at Palermo, in 1282, where thou- 
sands of Frenchmen perished under the daggers of the insult- 
ed and oppressed islanders. Every town in Sicily (except 
Sperlenga) followed the bloody example of the capital ; the 
tyranny of Charles the Butcher was overthrown, and the Sicil- 
ians, calling to their assistance Don Pedro III. of Aragon, 
transferred the crown of Sicily to him as the heir of the un- 
happy house of Hohenstaufen. '^^ 

The kingdom of Naples never enjoyed so tranquil and 
prosperous a reign as that of Frederic II. The active and 
enlightened emperor resided mostly in his hereditary kingdom, 
which he governed with all the aifection and devotedness of a 
native prince. Art and science, agriculture and commerce, 
administration and army — attracted alike his attention and 
solicitude ; but the institutions which his genius erected for 
the welfare of his beloved Naples remained undeveloped in 
consequence of the convulsions during the latter part of his 
reign, and were almost entirely destroyed by the subsequent 
invasion of the French. 

424. Cities and Historical Sites. — Naples, then alrea- 
dy the immense and populous capital of the kingdom, was em 
bellished and strengthened by Frederic, who built the cele- 
brated Castello del Uovo, now used as a state prison for 
Italian patriots by the despicable King Bomba. In 1224, 
he founded a university on the plan of that of Bologna, and 
improved and enlarged the medical college at Salerno. At 
both places, Frederic, in a time of superstition and ignorance, 
formed museums of art and antiquities, collections of coins 
and manuscripts, which, unfortunately, during the tumults of 
the French dominion, were eventually dispersed and lost. On 
the market-place of Naples — Mercato del Carrnine — took 
place the 25th October, 1268, the unjust execution of the 
young Conradino of Souabia, with his illustrious companions 
in arms — Grerman princes, Grhibeline nobles and citizens of 
Pisa, in the presence of Charles of Anjou and his French 
court. On the spot stands now the Church del Carmine, 
built by the sorrowing duchess Elizabeth, in memory of her 
son.*'^' Nocera de' Pagani, south of Mount Vesuvius, Luce- 

"' Interesting details on the history of Sicily are found in Michele 
Amari's eloquent Guerra del Vespro Siciliano, lately published in 
Florence. 

"° In the subterranean vault of the church, the traveller still be- 
holds a marble slab on the wall, with a black-letter inscription, indi- 
cating the sepulchre of Conradino and his faithful friend and fellow- 
Bufferer, Count Frederic of Anspach. 



ria, and Foggia, in the Apulian plain, were Saracen colonies, 
inhabited by fifty thousand brave Arab horsemen and archers, 
who rendered the emperor and his son, Manfred, important 
service during their continual wars with the popes. At the 
neighboring Castello Ferentino Frederic II., weary of misfor- 
tune and of life, died in the arms of his beloved Bianca and 
his son Manfred, on the 13th of December, 1250. He lies 
buried in the cathedral of Palermo, and his body was still in 
perfect preservation when the sarcophagus was opened in 
1783. On the plains of Grandella, near Benevento, Charles 
of Anjou gained the battle and the kingdom, on the 26th of 
February, 1266, against King Manfred, who there fell amongst 
heaps of slain Frenchmen. Between Tagliacozzo and Alba^ 
on the plain of Scurcola, in the Abruzzi, was fought the last 
battle of the Hohenstaufens, on the 23d of August, 1268, in 
which Conradino and his Souabian chivalry were routed by 
King Charles of Anjou, by a stratagem of the old French \ 
crusader, Alard de Saint-Valery, and the bravery of William of 
Villehardoin, the Prince of Morea (358), who had followed the 
banner of the French usurper with all his vassals. A ruinous 
chapel of Santa Maria della Viitoria stillstands on the banks 
of the rivulet Salto, the scene of the defeat. Conradino, sepa- 
rated from his friends, fled in disguise across the mountains 
to Astura, on the sea-shore, where he was betrayed by the 
Roman noble Frangipani, and delivered into the hands of 
Charles. Thus terminated the German dominion in Italy, 
and when the Lombard and Tuscan republics began to feel 
the weight of the French yoke, the Sicilian massacre, the 
capture of the French fleet oif Messina by the Catalan Ad 
miral Roger de Loria, and the subsequent death of Charles 
of Anjou, in 1284, restored the equilibrium, and left the 
Italians for two centuries in the enjoyment of their national 
liberty. 



CHAPTER X. 



EUROPE, WESTERN ASIA, AND NORTHERN 
AFRICA. 

THEIR POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY FROM THE CLOSE OF THE 

THIRTEENTH CENTURY TO THE MIDDLE OF THE 

FIFTEENTH. A. D. 1300-1453. 

425. General Remarks. — The religious fanaticism of 
the crusades had cost Europe more than five millions of men, 
and a vast number of its noblest families. Yet the consequen- 
ces of those bloody wars in the Bast and on the Baltic were 
nevertheless of high importance for the future development 
and progress of the European society. In the north the Dan- 
ish and Teutonic priests and knights extended the Christian 
religion among the heathen Sclavonians, Letts, and Finns, 
and flourishing cities arose on the banks of the Vistula and on 
the shores of the Baltic. In the East, though the crusaders, 
vanquished by the scimitar of the Mamhckes, were driven 
from all their conquests, they brought home with them multi- 
farious knowledge, enlightened views and liberal opinions, 
gained by their intercourse with the Saracens, which were 
cherished in the commercial cities of Italy, and the newly 
established universities of France and Germany, whence they 
spread through all classes of society and began to prepare those 
reforms in Church and State which later marked the new era of 
the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. At the conmiencemeut 
of the crusades toward the close of the eleventh century, the 



142 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. ENGLAND. 



mass of the people of Europe were either vassals or serfs : 
the incessant barbarous warfare between the feudal lords was 
particularly oppressive to the poor cultivators of the soil. 
Their huts were pillaged and their cattle driven away ; their 
fields ravao-ed and themselves massacred from one end of 
Christian Europe to the other. A contemporaneous historian 
therefore says with justice, " that the treuga Dei — a truce of 
God then often proclaimed — did not produce so beneficial a 
calm as followed the departure of the thousands of crusaders 
— for then the whole earth seemed to be tranquillized at once." 
It was during that period of migrations that the free cities 
began to rise. Italy led on the van with her brilliant repub- 
lics ; France soon followed with her Communes, and Ger- 
many closed the rear with her freie Reichstddte or free impe- 
rial cities, and her Hanseatic League. So many feudal lords 
being withdrawn to the Levant, some cities disengaged them- 
selves from their vassalage to the nobles ; others following the 
example, arose against their bishops (307) ; they obtained char- 
ters from royal authority, conferring the guaranty of personal 
liberty on the citizens — the right of acquiring and disposing 
of property — the freedom from arbitrary taxation — the right 
of municipal administration, and the power of raising their 
own military force for the defence of their city and its pre- 
cincts. Thus rose the third estate — le tiers etat, or popular 
representation, by which the kings obtained a balance against 
the power of the feudal lords, and which mainly contributed to 
the dissolution of the feudal system toward the close of the 
fifteenth and the beginning of the sixteenth centuries. The 
nobles in some countries, such as France, became subjects. 
The cities in the Low Countries and Germany advanced in in- 
dustry and commerce ; their wealth and power inspired them 
with sentiments of independence and liberty, and fostered 
that enthusiasm for science, art, mechanics and manufactures, 
which completed the emancipation of Europe. 

426. During the era of the Crusades all nations had trav- 
elled and mixed ; they had united together on the same battle- 
field under the banner of the Cross. In the following period, 
on the contrary, they became again occupied with their inter- 
nal organizations at home, or in quarrelling with their neigh- 
bors ; and no universal movement characterized the fourteenth 
or fifteenth century. The history of the world appears now 
under quite another aspect. The dark ages are at length 
passed — they lie behind us — we recognize the dawn of our 
own modern day in the ideas, language, manners, and wants 
of the nations ; it is the era of renaissance, revival ! The 
sources of history now send forth abundant streams ; and we 
are able to trace out the events, and delineate the leading 
characters of the times. Germany separates herself from 
Italy ; and during the rivalry between the Austrian and Lux- 
emburg dynasties, her princes and prelates assert their terri- 
torial independence on the decline of the imperial power, 
whilst the cities, by their armed confederacies, control the in- 
fluence of both princes and emperors. In France, on the 
contrary, the kings of the Valois family aspire boldly to a 
monarchical sovereignty, by the support of their parliaments, 
their Etats generaux, and by the redemption of the large 
fiefs, which now revert to the crown, and consolidate the 
household power of the kings. 

427. In England, the Magna Charta libertatum, and the 
Houses of Lords and Commons subsequently established, cir- 
cumscribe the despotic tendencies of the Plantagenet kings, 
while the glorious exertions of the Norman knighthood, and 
the Saxon yeomanry on the battle-fields of Crecy, Poitiers, 



and Agincourt, cement the fraternity and union of those 
noble races, and the bloody wars of the Roses restore the 
equilibrium between kings, aristocracy, and commoners. In 
the North, the Scandinavian nations stop their dissensions 
and attempt to join hands in the Calmarian Union. The 
Lechian and Lithuanian races do the same, and Poland 
becomes a mighty, conquering kingdom. Russia awakens from 
her long lethargy, and throws off the degrading yoke of her 
Mongol tyrants. Portugal, driving the Moors back to 
Africa, extends her dominion on that continent, and discovers 
unknown islands in the Atlantic Ocean. Spain, uniting her 
Christian kingdoms, conquers the Mohammedan Granada, 
and a New World beyond the seas, and prepares for the great 
part she is to perform under Charles V. The Popes of Rome, 
urged by the enlightened spirit of the times, secure that influ- 
ence, by the alliance of the Italian States at home, which 
they have lost by the ecclesiastical councils of Constance and 
Basle, beyond the Alps. Hungary generously fights the 
battles of life and death on the Danube against the Ottoman 
Turks, whilst the Byzantine empire sinks beneath her des- 
tiny ; yet the fugitive Greeks carry her language and litera- 
ture to Italy, France, and Germany, where the era of learning 
and research begins. 

Thus all the nations of the West have, more or less, 
directly profited by the crusades. Only those of the East, 
after their temporary victory, sank back into the sloth, mental 
ignorance, and moral degradation of Islamism, and crouched 
beneath the despotic dominion of Circassian Mamlukes, of 
Tartar- Mongol conquerors, and of Turkish Sultans. 

428. Toward tlie middle of the fifteenth century, we find 
the following twenty-six independent states, or groups of 
states, in Europe, Western Asia, and Northern Africa, with 
whose description we shall close our essay on the Historical 
Geography of the Middle Ages. Five states are situated in 
the north of Europe : I. The kingdom of England and Ire- 
land ; II. The kingdom of Scotland ; III. The three north- 
ern powers of the Calmarian Union ; IV. The kingdom of 
Pola?id and Lithuania ; V. The grand duchy of Moskoic. 
Four states in Central Europe ; VI. The kingdom of France ; 
VII. The Romano- Germanic empire ; VIII. The confede- 
racy of the Swiss cantons ; IX. The kingdom of Hungary. 
Eleven states in Southern Europe ; X. The kingdom of Por- 
tugal ; XL That of Cffs^i/e ,• XIL That of ^rao-o?z ; XIIL 
That of Navarra ; XIV. The Mohammedan kingdom of 
Granada; XV. The Italian principalities and republics; 
XVI. The Papal State ; XVII. The kingdom of N'aples ; 
XVIII. The Frankish principalities in Greece ; XIX. The 
expiring Byzantine empire ; XX. The Porte of the Ottoman 
Turks, extending through Asia Minor. In Western Asia, 
three states ; XXI. The Grand Comnenian empire of Trehi- 
zond ; XXII. The empire of the Mongols ; and XXIII. The 
Sultanate of the Circassian Mamlukes in Syria and Egypt ; 
and finally, three states in Northern Africa; XXIV. The 
kingdom of Tmiis ; XXV. That of Tlemesen ; and XXVI. 
That of Fez and Morocco}'" 

"" Compare the accompanying map, No. 6. We have been obliged, 
on account of the narrow space allotted to us, to confine the VIL and 
Vni. periods, announced in our introductory chapter (2), to a more lim- 
ited geographical description of Europe during the fifteenth century 
than wc had intended. For more complete historical details on the 
progress of the constitutions and organizations of the times, we must refer 
the student to the works of Gibbon, Hallam, Lingard, Leo, Schlosser, 
Rehm, Riihs, Michelet, Sismondi, and others. 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. IRELAND. 



143 



I. NORTHERN EUROPE. 

I. The Kingdom of England and Ireland. 

429. Acquisitions of the Plantagenet Dynasty : I. 
Ireland. — The conquest of the southeastern coast of Ireland 
by Henry II., in 1172, did not promote the civilization and 
happiness of the Irish nation (283). The seeds of discord, 
violence, and misery had been sown only more profusely in 
that beautiful but unhappy island. They seem to have par- 
taken of the natural productiveness of the soil, and to have 
borne abundant harvests. From the departure of Henry II. 
from Ireland, in 1173, to the wars of the Roses in 1460, a 
period of nearly three hundred years, the history of that 
country presents only a long train of afflictions, of tyranny, 
suffering, and awful crimes. No history of any other of the 
mediaeval nations of Europe affords a parallel to it! The 
island was entirely neglected by the English kings. The 
English delegates with royal powers whom they sent over 
were either too arrogant and violent in their administration, 
and too much disposed to enforce obedience, or too incompetent 
to effect the tranquillity of the country, from want of means. 
The proud English barons despised the native chiefs; and 
instead of gaining their respect and good will, they only in- 
spired them with feelings of mortal hatred. In the whole 
northwest and south, the unsubdued Irish clans continued 
their vindictive wars, which were often fomented by the dis- 
contented English barons themselves, who, renouncing the alle- 
giance to their native kings, joined the Irish, and adopted 
their manners, dress, and habits ; thus the Celts, the ancient 
settlers, and the new comers, jvere enveloped in eternal con- 
tentions, violence and crime. '®^ Whilst the Roman Church 
grasped at the lands, and enriched its fat prelates by dona- 
tions and exactions, the necessities of the English kings com- 
pelled them to demand exorbitant supplies, which were spent 
in the wars on the Continent of France. The feudal laws of 
England a,nd the customs of the native Irish were in con- 
tinual conflict, and, consequently, the administration of jus- 
tice was generally nothing else than the power of the 
strongest. The English territory, instead of extending into 
the interior, and embracing the whole island, receded towards 
the eastern coast ; and the English province of Pale, 
which, during the tw'elfth century, had still included Carrick- 
fergus, Belfast, Armagh, and Carlingford, left these places 
abandoned and in ruins beyond its boundaries toward the 
middle of the fifteenth. Nay, the position of the English 
had become entirely defensive, and it was only by the erection 
of strong castles in the counties of Louth, Meath, and Kil- 
dare, that the English border-wardens were enabled to check 
the incursions of the native Erins. Dundalk in the county 
of Louth was then the farthest fortress toward the north. 
The boundary line to the south of Dublin city, beyond which 
the king's writ was a dead letter, was fixed as far as Tallaght 
by the stream of the Dodder, a rivulet within three miles of 
Dublin, and thence by a trench with redoubts to Neiocastle 
on the borders of Kildare ; all the district to the south of 
this line, except a narrow band along the sea-coast to Bray, 
being in the undisputed possession of the Irish, two families 
of whom, the O'Birnes and the O'Tooles, asserted and main- 
tained the rank of independent princes throughout the southern 
part of Dublin county and the mountainous district of 
Winchiligo since designated as the county of Wicklow. So 
powerful were the Irish chiefs during this period that their 
cumrick or protection was anxiously sought for by the Eng- 

''^ See the melancholy proofs in Thomas Moore's History of Ireland 
Philadelphia, 1848. on every page. 



lish settlers within the borders of Pale, and secured by the 
payment of an annual tribute called Black-rent. Nor did the 
condition of Ireland become more tolerable after the close of 
the civil wars in England in 1485. Perkin Warbeck, the 
impostor, found a wide field for his extravagancies in Ireland, 
and it was not until after the most sanguinary defeat of the 
Irish at Knnc-tuadh, near Galway, in 1504, where they lost 
nine thousand slain against the Earl of Kildare and the Eng- 
lish Barons, that beholding all their exertions of throwing off 
the yoke failing, their spirit of rebellion and self-reliance 
began to decline and the silence of the grave-yard for a length 
of time succeeded to the fierce yells of the battle-field."' 

430. The most powerful English families in Ireland were 
the Lacys in the county of Meath, the Fitzgeralds in Kildare, 
the Howards of Caterlagh, the Hastings, Valences and 
Grays in Wexford, the fierce BiUlers of Tipperary often 
siding with the Irish chiefs against the royal government; 
the Talbots of Waterford and the Fitz- Stephens of Cork in 
the south. In the north and west of the island, were the 
seats of the native princes, the O'' Needs, the Tyr- Conells and 
the Tyr-Orns in Ulster; the still more turbulent O Conner s 
with their followers, the Clan Donells, the CKelleys, the 
B'PDermots, the O^Mayles, and the CFlairts in Connaught, 
who being in the English interest followed the royal banner 
against the M^Burghs and the OBrians in Munster and 
the C Carrots in Louth. Yet the complications became the 
more inexitricable, because the fiercest Canjinnies were residing 
on the borders of the English j^rovince or even within its pre- 
cincts ; these were the O' Tooles in the mountains, south of 
Dublin, and the CMoores on the borders of the county of 
Kilkenny. The virulence of civil discord was still further aug- 
mented by religious controversy, and Henry VIII. attempted 
in vain to diminish the Papal power in Ireland as he had done 
successfully in England. 

431. II. The counties of Cumberland and Westmore- 
land. These provinces not mentioned in the Doomsday-book 
of William the Conqueror, were long English fiefs held by 
the crown of Scotland (103,284), until they were given back 
by King William the Lion, in 1 175, after his defeat and cap- 
ture at Alnwick in Northumberland. Cumberland was in 
1237 finally annexed to the crown of England by Henry 
III.; Westmoreland passed to the Cliffords. Rut the feuds 
between the hostile neighbors, English and Scots, continuing 
for centuries, both counties, as well as Northumberland, were 
constantly the scene of contention, rapine and bloodshed. 
Agriculture became neglected and the cattle were the chief 

139 What a frightful picture does Thomas Moore give of the state of 
Ireland in the years of the Reformation 1516-1517. "The Lord 
Deputy Gerald, son and successor of the Earl of Kildare, — says the 
historian, — lost no time in following the example of his father. He 
attacked the country of Hugh O'Reilly, stormed and razed the castle 
of Cavan, and having slain O'Reilly himself, and many of his followers, 
chased the rest into their inaccessible fastnesses, and burned and 
ravaged their country. He then made an inroad into Imaly where he 
slew Shane O'Toole, a chieftaia of the mountainous district, and sent 
his head to the mayor in Dublin, (a. d. 1516.) Then advancing his stan- 
dard into Ely 0' Carrol, he took and demolished the castle of Limevan, 
surprised Clonmel and returned loaded with trophies and spoil ! He 
then (a. d. 1517) marched into Lecale, took by storm the castle of 
Dundrwn, defeated Phelim MacGenis, putting to death a number of his 
followers. From thence the Lord Deputy continuing his course into 
Tyrone, took and burnt the castle of Dunyannon, and spread the 
horrors of fire and war throughout the whole of that territory. If such 
was the condition of the districts on the Eastern co.ast, within the 
limits of the Pale or English territory of Ireland, what must have been 
the feuds and horrors of the Northern and Western counties among 
the savage Irish clans themselves. — History of Ireland, page 899. 



144 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. ENGLAND. 



property of the people ; castles and towers were erected in 
every strong position. The borderers acted mostly as light 
cavalry, called j^rickers. They rode small but nimble and 
well-trained horses, and were accompanied by warriors on foot 
who used the long-bow. This unsettled state along the 
borders prevailed through the whole period of the middle 
ages and down to later times. 

III. The island of Man (224, 300), the Hebrides, and 
other western islands, had, in 1266, been ceded by the Nor- 
wegian King Magnus Lagabseter to Scotland. Baiiol surren- 
dered them in 1334 to Edward III., together with the city 
and county of Berwick, the bulwark of Scotland, which had 
rendered such capital service for centuries ; yet the brave 
Scots soon after took it back again. 

432. IV. Wales had in part maintained its independence 
from the times of William the Conqueror to Edward I. — 1276- 
1283. Its mountainous and rugged territory was divided 
into several principalities, the most important of which were 
Aberfraiv (Gwyned) in the north, and Powys (now Montgom- 
eryshire) in the centre. Only the southeastern more open 
parts of the peninsula had earlier been occupied by Norman 
barons, who secured their possessions by numerous border 
castles towards the mountains. The Welsh, in their rude 
independence were divided into three classes: 1, the king — 
Brenin — and royal family ; 2, the freemen — Breyr — and the 
unfree — Bilain or Taeawg. The king was surrounded by his 
of&eers — Disdain — among whom were the chaplain and the 
favorite bards. Wales was divided into Cantrefs and Cyminwd, 
answering to the natural limits of the narrow valleys, sepa- 
rated by ridges of the mountains. Edward I., at the head of 
a brilliant feudal army, soon forced the Welsh prince, Llewel- 
lyn, whom he had chased from one stronghold to another, 
to surrender and pay homage to the English crown. Yet the 
arrogant behavior of the British barons who were placed as 
governors in the pacified provinces, drove the fierce Welsh 
to despair. They rushed to arms, stormed the castle of 
Hawardeii, near Chester, on the river Dee, and cut down the 
garrison to a man. The revenge of Edward was terrible. 
Llewellyn fell heroically fighting in battle ; his brother David 
was tried before the peers of England, and most unjustly 
condemned to death. All the Welsh nobility then submitted 
to the conqueror ; the laws and administration of England, 
with sheriifs and other officers of justice, were established in 
the principality, which, in spite of the mortal hate of the 
Welsh people, was divided into shires and baronies, and 
granted to the Clares, Pembrokes, Spencers, Bohuns, Grays, 
and other chivalrous nobles. 

V. Scotland. — Edinburg, Stirling, Perth, the Low- 
lands and Border counties were temporarily occupied by the 
English during the dispute between John Baiiol of Galloway 
and Robert Bruce of Annandale — 1289-1307 — about the suc- 
cession to the Scottish throne. But the brilliant victory 
of Robert Bruce at Bannockburn, June 24th, 1314, against 
Edward II. and the English chivalry, secured the indepen- 
dence of Scotland, and of all the conquests that had cost so 
much blood and treasure, nothing remained except the border 
fortress Berwick-upon-Tweed. 

VI. Anjou, Touraine, Maine, Normandy, Poitou, and 
Aquitaine, with Auvergne and Gascogne, were, during the 
reign of Henry II., united with the English crown, partly 
by inheritance of the Plantagenet dynasty, partly by the mar- 
riage of that prince with Eleanor of Poitou. Yet we have al- 
ready seen the fate of these ephemeral acquisitions (386, 387). 



The later conquests in France by Edward IH. and Henry V., 
glorious as were the victories gained on French battle-fields, 
brought England no real advantage ; and of all her territories 
beyond the Channel, there remained, in the year 1453, only 
the county of Calais, on the coast of Artois, with the im- 
portant city of Calais, the borough of Oye, and the castles 
of Guisnes and Ardres. 

433. Internal Condition during the War of the 
Roses. — The changes which took place in the political and 
constitutional history of England, from the times of William 
the Conqueror to those of Henry VIII., are far more im- 
portant than those of her historical geography. The counties 
and their subdivisions remained the same ; yet they were 
augmented by the thirteen shires of Wales. The ecclesias- 
tical division of England was in two archbishoprics : — I., 
Provincia Eboracensis, with the archiepiscopal see of Ebor- 
acum (York), and the suffragans of Durham and Carlisle; 
and II., Provincia Cantuariensis, with the see Cantvaria 
(Dorovernum) or Canterbury, and the suffragans : Lincoln, 
Northwicum, Ely, Londinum, Ciceslria (Chichester), Vin- 
tonia (Winchester), Sarum (Salisbury), Bathonia (Bath) 
and Welles (Wells), Exo7iia (Exeter), Wigorn (Worcester), 
Hereforde, Licidfeld (Lichfield) ; and in Wales Llandaff, 
Menevia (Saint Davids), Bangor, and Saint Asaph. The 
cathedrals of York, Winchester, Salisbury, Liclifield, and 
many others, stand as the noblest monuments of Norman 
architecture, which was carried to its perfection during the 
thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Celebrated convents 
and monasteries were Tornesse and Carthmell in Westmore- 
land; Lindisfarne and St. Cuthbert, in Northumberland; Cm- 
land, Edmv.ndsbury , and Bardenea, in East Anglia,' St. Al- 
bans, Westminster, and Readinga, near London ; Bangor, 
Winloch, and Caermardon, in Wales. 

Agriculture, navigation, commerce, and mechanics, were 
much neglected in Old England ; the island suffered often 
from famine. The products for export were lead, tin, butter, 
skins, and principally wool. A company formed itself in 1296 
in the wool trade, the merchant adventurers, who attempted 
to deprive foreigners, and principally the Hanse towns, on 
the Baltic, of their exclusive privileges. The greatest mer- 
chants in England were foreigners ; those of Lombardy lived 
in a very luxurious manner, and brought- popular vengeance 
upon themselves by their heartless usury ; such as the Cau- 
risini of Rome, who charged sixty per cent, interest. The 
commerce with Germany was often interrupted b}' piracies, 
which the English during the civil wars considered as quite a 
lucrative and regular profession. Edward III. called Flemish 
weavers into the island, prohibited the use of foreign manu- 
factures, and expelled with cruelty the Jews in 1290. But 
all these arbitrary measures were fatal to the prosperity of 
the country ; the English nation was too much averted from 
the ai-ts of peace by the wars on the continent ; civil dissen- 
sions, religious persecution against the Lollards, the followers 
of Wicliffe, and the rancor of faction among the nobles at 
home, produced the same baneful effect. The pei-iod from 
the year 1399 to 1453 is eventful in foreign wars, brilliant 
victories, civil discord, and national calamities. The doubtful 
title of Henry IV. of Lancaster gave rise to that struggle 
which only terminated with the battle of Bosworth. In 
these contests the wealth of England was wasted, and her 
nobles slain. Eighty princes of the royal blood, and thousands 
of her barons and knights, perished either on the battlefields 
or on the block during the war of the Roses. The most 
aetonishing changes took place in the territorial possessions 
of the great families ; many became extinct, and their 
estates passed into other hands. The Yorks, the Howards, 



EiaHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. ENGLAND. 



145 



the Hastings, the Beauchanips, the Beauforts, the Somersets, 
the Surreys were swept away. The powerful Percys of 
Northumberland, the first and the last on the battle-fields, 
succeeded in weathering the storm. The Stanleys, Chandos, 
Danturys and Willoughbys rose in the sunshine of tlie 
Tudor favors. The population was much reduced ; the total 
number of inhabitants in England, in 1485, was not more 
than three millions ; it was distributed in a very different way 
from what it is at present ; Lancashire and Cumberland were 
thinly peopled, while London and Westminster did not contain 
more than sixty or seventy thousand souls. Many towns 
had been changed into villages, others were levelled to the 
ground ; large tracts of country were laid waste, yet it would 
be incorrect to imagine that nothing was gained from those 
fierce contentions. They were the precursors of the rapid 
improvements of the new era which dawned on England at 
the accession of Henry of Tudor, in 1485.-°" 

434. Remarkable Cities and Historical Sites. — 
London, in the county of Middlesex, was, towards the close 
of the fifteenth century, still a city of no great extent and 
population. It continued to be inclosed within its old walls 
and moats, and reached from Tower-hill, on the east, to the 
tower of Montfichet, on the Fleet-ditch, west, where it bor- 
dered on the large suburb of Farringdon. Eight gates""" 
opened upon the Moorfields and the scattered villages of 
M.ary-le-bone^ St. Giles, Islington, Clerkenwell, SJtoreditch, 
BetJi.lehem, Radcliff and Blackivell, in the environs. Old 
London Bridge was the only communication between the city 
and Southioark, likewise a small town on the Lambeth moor. 
London had yet few public buildings besides its numerous 
churches, convents, hospitals, and other religious houses. 
The Temple, formerly belonging to the knights templars, the 
palaces of Savoy (413), Durham and Scotland, White Hall 
and Westminster, lay all on the Strand, along the Thames, 
at a distance of nearly four miles from the city gate. The 
streets were narrow, dark, muddy, and full of pits and sloughs. 
The houses consisted of plaster and timber, covered with 
thatched roofs, having each story overhanging that imme- 
diately beneatL Only the nobility had some large gloomy 
residences, where they displayed their extravagant magnifi- 
cence in a half-barbarous style. The Plantagenet kings re- 
sided usually at Westminster, and Saint Peter's Abbey was 
the place of their coronation. The large hall (Westminster 
Hall) built by William Rufus, was pulled down and rebuilt 
by Richard II., such as we see it at present. The old West- 
minster Abbey of Edward the Confessor having been burned 
in 1087, was rebuilt during the reign of Henry III., but not 
finished until long after his death. Henry VII. built the 
extensive and beautiful chapel that bears his name, the last 
important addition made in the abbey before the Reformation. 
Staines, on the Thames, southeast of Windsor. There, on 
the Runimede, John Lackland (Sanstei're) in the Easter- 
week, 1215, met the discontented barons and prelates, and 
signed, June 19, the celebrated great charter, which laid the 
foundation of the constitution of England. Barnet, in Hert- 
ford county, north of London : on G-ladsmore Heath, north of 
that town, was fought, on April 14, 1471, the decisive battle 
between Edward IV. of York and Neville Earl of Warwick — 
the Kingmaker — at the head of the Lanca,^erians, in which 
the latter, with many of the nobility, perished on the field. 

-""See interesting statistical details for this period in Malte Brun's 
Geography, Vol. III., page 1197, 4to. edition, and in Lingard's History 
of England. 

"^'^ These gates were from west to east : ] , Ludgate ; 2, Newgate ; 3, 
Aldersgate ; 4, Cripplegate ; 5, Moorgate ; 6, Bishopsgate ; 7, Aldgate, 
iiud 8, Billingsgate, on the Thames. 

19 



An obelisk, erected on the spot in 1740, commemorates the 
event. St. Albans, northwest of Barnet, and thirty miles 
from London : here the first battle in the War of the Roses 
was fought May 22, 1454, in which the Duke of Northumber- 
land, and the earls of Somerset and Stafi"ord fell ; King Henry 
VI. was captured by the Duke of York, and the Lancasterian 
army cut to pieces. In a second battle, on the same field, 
February 7, 1461, Queen Margaret of Anjou defeated the 
Earl of Warwick, and delivered her husband from the hands 
of the Yorkists. Clarendon, near Salisbury, in Wiltshire, 
on the outskirts of the New Forest, where Henry II., in 
1164, in a general council of the nobility and prelates, gave 
the constitution of Clarendon, which defined the limits be- 
tween the civil and ecclesiastical jurisdictions, with a view 
to stop the arrogance and increasing usurpations of the Pope 
and clergy. Seven Oaks, in Kent, southeast of London, 
where John Cade, the rebel, with his twenty thousand fol- 
lowers, on June 23, 1450, defeated and slew Sir Humphrey 
Stafford, King Henry's general, and, after the rout, marched 
to London, and encamped on Blackheath, while the king fled 
to Kenilworth. Lysine, on the sea-coast of Lincoln county : 
there King John attempting to cross the washes, to Lincoln, 
by high water, lost, in the sudden inundation, part of his 
mercenaries, all his carriages, treasures, and baggage, and 
arrived, sick and in despair, at the neighboring Newark, 
where he died October 17, 1216. Lewes, in Sussex: here 
the Earl of Leicester, May 14, 1264, routed the army of 
Henry III., in spite of the bravery of Prince Edward, and 
forced the king to surrender himself prisoner. Kenilworth 
Castle, in Warwick county, where Prince Edward surprised 
and defeated Simon de Montford, son of Leicester, in 1265. 
Evesham, in Worcester county, where, after the battle of 
Kenilworth, Prince Edward, on the 4th of August, by strat- 
agem, surrounded, defeated, and slew .the haughty Earl of 
Lancaster, and delivered his father, Henry III., from his 
captivity. In the neighborhood lies Teiokesbury, Mortimer''s 
Cross, Bloreheath ; and north, Wakefield and Loivton, in 
York county, Hexham-on-the-Tyne in Northumberland, and 
Northampto7%, east of Warwick, — all well-known cities from 
the bloody battles fought in their vicinity during the wars of 
the Roses (1452-1485). The castle of Pomfrct (Pontefract), 
east of Wakefield, county of York, the prison of the unhappy 
Richard II., who was here ruthlessly slaughtered by Sir 
Piers Exton and his satellites in 1399. Berkeley Castle, on 
the gulf of Severn, in Gloucester county, where, on Sept. 21, 
1327, Edward II. was treacherously and cruelly murdered 
with a hot iron by Gournay and Ogle, the creatures of Queen 
Isabel and her paramour Mortimer. Famous historical places 
on the borders of Scotland during this period are : — Neville^s 
Cross, near Durham, in Northumberland, where the spirited 
Queen Philippa, in the absence of Edward III. in France, 
with 12,000 men, totally defeated the Scottish army, and took 
King David Bruce prisoner, with his noblest barons, October 
17, 1346. North Allerton, in Richmond county, north of 
York, Alnwick, Otterburn, Homildon-Hill, and Halydon- 
Hill, north of Berwick, — all battle-fields, on which the Scots 
were routed and cut to pieces by the chivalry of England. At 
Alnwick, King William the Lion was taken prisoner, in 1175, 
and forced to surrender his English fiefs (430). Bormigh 
Bridge, near Burton-upon-Trent, in York county, where 
Thomas Earl of Lancaster was defeated and taken prisoner, 
March 16, 1322, by Sir Andrew Harclay, and executed as a 
rebel. By the king's order the same cruel punishment was 
inflicted on the earl which he had formerly imposed on the 
king's favorite, Gaveston. Shrewsbury, a fine old city, on the 
banks of the Severn, was often visited by the English kings, on 
account of the military importance of its situation on the 



146 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1450. SCOTLAND. 



Welsh marches. Here was fought one of the most chivalrous 
battles of England, on July 21, 1402, between Henry Percy 
— the Hotspur — and Henry IV., in which Hotspur fell. 
Douglas was taken prisoner, and the King of England gained 
a complete victory ; two thousand three hundred barons and 
knights, and more than six thousand private warriors perished 
on the field. Bosivorih, on the Ashby canal, in Leicester 
county, was a small market town. Here was fought the last 
battle of the Roses, on the 2'2d August, 1485, in which the 
tyrant Richard III. fell, and Henry Tudor-Lancaster was 
raised to the English throne. 



II. The Kingdom of Scotland. 

435. Scotland under the Bruges and the Stuarts. — 
On the death of the Maiden of Norway in 1291, begins the 
contest about the throne of Scotland and the bloody wars with 
the kings of England, which, after the battle of Bannock- 
burn, in 1314, and the expulsion of the English, are mostly 
changed into mere border-forays. Later, however, when Scot- 
land unites in alliance with France and attacks England, 
while she is actually engaged on the continent, those fierce 
and indecisive wars are renewed, and continue with greater 
fury until the reign of Henry VIII., when they terminate with 
the death of James IV. on Flodden Field in 1515. Among 
the number of the pretenders to the crown, John Baliol of 
Galloway and Robert Bruce of Annandale were the nearest 
akin to the defunct Malcolm dynasty. ^"'-^ Edward I., having been 
chosen umpire in the question of the succesa^ion in the as- 
sembly at the castle of Norhani, on the Tweed, in June 1291, 
declared for Baliol, who closed the disgraceful scene by doing 
homage to Edward as Lord Paramount of Scotland. This 
haughty and ambitious sovereign soon put his creature aside 
altogether, occupied all the castles and strongholds of Scot- 
land with his English knights and garrisons, and treated the 
brave Scottish nation with heartless cruelty. The insurrec- 
tion of Sir William Wallace was put down with the sword, and 
that noble-minded chief, betrayed by the traitor John of 
Monteith, was dragged to London and executed in 1304. 
But his spirit survived in the young Robert Bruce, who was 
crowned King of Scotland at Scone (220) in 1306, and under 
the most romantic adventures in the Highlands and on the 
Western Islands, succeeded in driving out the English and 
securing the independence of his kingdom by the brilliant 
victory over Edward II. at Bannockburn in 1314. His son 
David II., after new defeats and a long captivity in England, 
died childless in 1370, and the crown then passed to the 

m GENEALOGY OF THE SCOTTISH KINGS. 
David I., 1124—1153. 



■ Henry ^ Prince of Scotland. 



Malcolm IV. 
1153-1165. 



William. 
1165—1214. 



David, Count of Huntingdon. 



Alexa.nder II. 
1214—1249. 



Alexander III. 
1249—1285. 



Margaret, 

married to Alan, 

Lord of Gallowav. 



IsaheX, 

married to Robert Bruce, 

Lord of Annandale. 



Devorgild, 
manned to John Baliol, 



Margaret, 1 1284, .John Baliol, 

married to Iving Eric Lord of Galloway, 
Priest-Hater of Norway, 1291—1296. 

M\rgap.f.t. Udmund Baliol, 

the Maiden of Norway, 
heiress of Scotland, dies 
on the passage, 1399. 



Marjory, 

married to 

John Comyn of 

Badenoch, 

stabbed 1306. 



Robert Bruce. 



EOBEET I. 

+ 1329. 



David II. 
1329—1871, * 
m.arried to Joan 
of England. 



Marjory, 
married to Walter 
Stuart, ancestor of 
the Stuart dynasty. 



Robert III. 
1390—1406. 



David, 

Duke of Kotlisav, 

1 1404. 



.Tames I., 

married to 

.loan of Somer.set, 

1406— 143T, 



Robert, 

Duke of Albany, 

+ 1420, 




talented but most unhappy house of the Stuarts. This family 
long ruled in Scotland ; they mounted the throne of Eng- 
land in 1606, but under terrible disasters were expelled in 
the revolution of 1688, and perished in exile and misery. 
Their mediczval history in Scotland presents a fearful suc- 
cession of border-forays, internal feuds between Highlands 
and Lowlands, between the nobles themselves, or against their 
kings, two of whom, James I. and III., were murdered, whilst 
James II. perished by the bursting of a bombard, and James 
IV. fell in the battle of Flodden. Yet, in spite of all these 
disorders and crimes, we discover the steady though slow 
progress of the Scottish nation. A constitutional government 
developed itself during tTie contest of the Baliols and Bruces, 
and the first parliament, consisting of clergy, nobility, and 
deputies from the cities, was assembled by Robert Bruce in 
1326. The misfortune of Scotland lay in the unruly spirit 
of the great ; the barons of the Lowlands at the head of their 
vassals and the Highland lairds with their clans, regarded 
the kings as their equals, and refused all obedience to the 
laws. The Lords of the Isles (287) often carried open war 
into the heart of the country ; the Highland clans of the 
M'Dougalls of Lorn, the Campbells, the Rosses, the Crawfords, 
and principally the border family of the Douglases of Lid- 
desdale, Galloway and Annandale, became so dangerous to the 
royal authority, that the mild James II. could only free him- 
self by the assassination of Archibald, Earl of Douglas, the 
expulsion of the whole race, and the confiscation of their 
castles and immense estates. Nor were the prelates less war- 
like and quarrelsome than the nobles. The Bishop of St. An- 
drews did not obtain the archiepiscopal dignity before 1468 ; 
even then the clergy refused him their recognition, and the 
Parliament, in 1471, repelled energetically the encroachments 
of the Pope. From the times of David II. the estates met by 
delegates, called the Lords of Articles, who consulted about the 
laws ; King and Parliament formed the legislative power, and 
a vast number of excellent decrees and police regulations were 
promulgated, which in other countries did not appear until 
centuries later. In the year 1457 the general exercise in 
arms was ordained, and often renewed. Every Scot from his 
twelfth to his sixteenth year had regularly to be drilled in ar- 
chery. The Lords of Session formed, since James II., the High 
Court of Justice. The Scottish youths studied in the Univer- 
sities of the continent. High schools or Colleges, were estab- 
lished at St. Andrews in 1411, at Glasgow in 1453, and at 
Aberdeen in 1493. The commerce of the Scots was insignificant, 
and they were often in open feud with the Hanseatic Confeder- 
acy. Cattle breeding was thriving, but agriculture neglected, 
nor did the fisheries on the coast prosper like those of the 
nations on the Baltic. Wool was manufactured, but Scottish 
industry was still far inferior even to that of England. The 
people were poor and barbarous, and fond of the wild life on 
the border (284), that curious mixture of chivalry and brigan- 
dage, while the domestic virtues, conjugal tenderness, chastity, 
paternal affection, honesty and heroic devotion and bravery, 
proved the true Scandinavian stem from which the noble 
Pictish race had sprung. 

436. Cities, Castles and Historical Sites. — Edinburgh 
was still a small town, only important on account of its almost 
impregnable caslle, which, however, was taken by stratagem 
and surprise, by the daring Randolph in 1312. — Stirling 
and Perth were the habitual residences of the Stuarts. In 
the latter city the awful murder of James I. by Sir Robert 
Graham and the Earl of Athole was pei'petrated February 
20th, 1437. — Near Kingsltorn, on the coast of Fife, rises 
the precipice from which the good old Alexander III. was 
thrown down, with his steed, a«d perished on the rocks 



EIGHTH PEEiOi).— A. D. 1300-1500. SCOTLAND. 



147 



below, still called the King^s Crag. — Ellerslie^ now Pais- 
ley, in Renfrew county, was the birthplace of William 
Wallace, the Protector of Scotland.— jPa/^i/Vi:, in Stirling- 
county, where William Wallace and the Scots on the 22d of 
July, 1298, lost a great battle against King Edward I., in con- 
sequence of which all Scotland was occupied by the English. — 
Roslyn^ in Edinburgh county, south of that city, a strong castle 
overhanging the deep glen; there John Comyn of Badenoch, 
after the battle of Falkirk, defeated three English divisions 
in one day, and raised the sunken spirits of the nation. — 
Robioyst.on, near Grlasgow, the hiding-place of Wallace, 
where he was betrayed by Sir John Monteith and delivered 
up to the English. — Dumfries, in the Nithsdale, on the Solway 
bay, where in the church of the Minorites Robert Bruce 
stabbed Sir John Comyn, the Red. in February, 1306, and 
raised his banner against the English. — Metliven, northwest 
of Perth, where Robert Bruce, immediately after his corona- 
tion at the Abbey of Scone, was met by the English Earl of 
Pembroke on the 19th of June, 1306, and suffered a complete 
defeat. JDalric in the county of Argyle, in a romantic site 
on Loch- Awe. In a narrow defile there, overhanging the lake 
and commanded by precipitous mountains, Robert Bruce, on 
his flight to the Western Islands, forced a passage for his 
army by heroical bravery against the treacherous M'Dougalls 
of Lorn. The king only lost his mantle, and the brooch which 
thus fell into the possession of John M'Dougall of Lorn 
is still preserved in that ancient famil}' as a precious memorial 
of the feudal times. Kildrumniie Castle, on the Don, west 
of Aberdeen, the refuge of Robert Bruce's wife and family, 
held long against the English, but surrendered at the fall 
of Nigel Bruce, the youngest brother of the king. Douglas 
Castle, on the river of the same name, in the upper county of 
Lanark, the paternal seat of that brave but turbulent family, 
became celebrated in the English wars under the name of 
Castle Dangerous by the various stratagems of good Lord 
James of Douglas who retook it from the English. Ban- 
nockburn, on the Bannock, five miles east of Stirling Cas- 
tle, the well-known village, in the swamps of which Edward 
II. lost his chivalry and his supremacy over Scotland, on the 
24th of June, 1314. Robert Bruce, Edward, his brother, 
the Lords Randolph and Douglas, and the Scottish spearmen, 
showed here an extraordinary bravery, and gained the finest 
victory that ever smiled on Scotland. Abercorn Castle, east 
of Bannockburn, on the shores of the Frith of Forth, where 
the arrogant Earl of Douglas met his sovereign in arms, in 
1458, but during his idle bravado, was abandoned by his vas- 
sals, and obliged to fly to Douglas Dale. Other famous 
castles on the Border (286) were the Hermitage, in the mo- 
rasses of Liddesdale, and Arkenholme, in Eskdale, where the 
elder Douglases, in their rebellion against King James II., 
suffered a severe defeat, and were forced, in consequence of it, 
to seek refuge in England in 1438, whence the Earl of 
Douglas returned, twenty years later, to die a monk in the 
Abbey of Lindores, on the Frith of Tay, in Fife county. 
Lauder, southeast of Abercorn, in Lauderdale ; there Archi- 
bald Douglas, called Bell-the- Cat, at the head of the dissa- 
tisfied lords, arrested and hanged the mean counsellors and 
favorites of young James III., on Lauder Bridge, in 1482. 
South of Lauder, at Holdoun or Halidon Hill, near the Abbey 
of Melrose (286) Sir Walter Scott, the Lord of Buccleuch at- 
tempted, on the 25th of July, 1526, to deliver young King 
James V. from the tyrannical government of the Douglases, 
but was defeated with gi'eat loss by the Border clans of the 
Homes and Kers, who suddenly fell upon his rear, and forced 
his border riders to flight. Sauchee, a small hamlet, a mile 
southeast of Bannockburn, saw, on the 18th June, 1488, the 
disgraceful scene of the defeat of James III., in his war with 



his insurgent nobility, and the awful murder of the fleeing 
king in the Beatonh Mill, on the Stirling road. Dupplin. 
on the Earn, west of Perth, where Edmund Baliol, 12th of 
August, 1332, defeated the Earl of Mar, Regent of Scotland, 
by a nightly surprise, and was raised to a tottering throne, 
which he lost as quickly, when he fled to England on an un- 
saddled horse. Yet King Edward III. came to his assistance, 
and the bloody defeat of the Scots at Halidon Hill, near 
Berwick, on the 19th of July, 1333, seemed again to turn the 
scale of victory in favor of the English by the surrender of 
that fortress and the southern counties. But the heroical 
defence of Loch Leven Castle by the gallant Alan Vipont, and 
of Dunbar by Black Agnes, Countess of March, steeled the 
courage of the Scots. Their ardent love of independence, 
and hatred of foreign tyranny, induced them to regain, by 
persevering and stubborn exertions, by stratagems and the 
boldest deeds, the strongholds they had lost. Thus Edin- 
burgh Castle and Perth were retaken; and when, in 1341, 
the young David Bruce,- on his return from France, landed at 
hiver-Bervy, on the coast of Kincardine, the Scots flocked to 
his banner; and Baliol, fleeing again to England, left the 
contested throne to the son of Robert Bruce. 

437. The Hebrides, Shetland, and Orkney Islands, 
on the west and north of Scotland, were, during this period, 
united with the crown. The Syderoer, or Hebrides, had been 
conquered and colonized by the Northmen (224), and when 
they, during the reign of King Alexander III., were attacked 
by the Lords of Ross and other Scottish chiefs. King Hakon 
IV. of Norway — 1207-1263 — armed a powerful fleet and army, 
with which he occupied the islands of Arran and Bute, plun- 
dered the Scottish coast, and attempted a landing at Largs, 
in Renfrew county. But a sudden storm arising, the Nor- 
wegian fleet drove out to sea, while the Norwegian troops on 
shore were totally defeated and routed by the superior number 
of Scots whom Alexander Stuart, the grandfather of the 
first monarch of that name, led against them. Hakon, in his 
despair, retired to the Orkney Islands, to refit his fleet ; but 
he died at Kirkwall in 1263. Magnus Lagabseter, his son 
and successor, immediately set on foot a negotiation with the 
Scots, which terminated in 1266 in a treaty of peace, wherein 
he renounced his pretensions to the Hebrides and all the other 
islands, including Man (224, 431), but excepting the Orkneys 
and Shetlands; a sum of money (4,000 marks) was paid by 
King Alexander III., and his daughter Margaret married the 
Norwegian crown-prince Eric. The more northern islands 
were, from the earliest times (101, 106), inhabited by the 
Northmen ; and their laws, language, usages and manners, were 
there more firmly established than in the Hebrides and in 
Man. About the year 1380, during the reign of Robert II. 
Stuart, Henry Sinclair, Count of Caithness, on the Scottish 
coast, opposite the Orkneys, obtained the earldom of those 
islands, which included the Shetlands, from King Hakon VI. 
and Queen Margaret of Norway and Denmark, and this pos- 
session continued in his family for a century under the sov- 
ereignty of Norway. In the year 1469 James III. of Scot- 
land married Margaret, daughter of Christian I. of Denmark 
and Norway, and with her he was to get a dowry of 60,000 
florins ; but the father-in-law, having no money, he arbitrarily 
mortgaged the Orkney and Shetland islands, and, as the 
Oldenburg kings of Denmark never redeemed their mortgage, 
the two groups of important islands remained, since that 
time, attached to the kingdom of Scotland. The Norse laws 
and usages, however, continued in full force in Shetland, 
and still differ in many parts from those of Scotland. The 
free property of lands was known by the term Udal — Odel — 
as in Norway (223), the proprietors being called Udallers — 



148 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1500. CALMAEIAN UNION. 



Odehbdndcr — aud descended in the udaller's family. The 
chief judge was called Great Foad — Foged — or Law-man — 
Laugmand — and under him different oflGicers attended to the 
good morals, police, and general administration of those indus- 
trious, kind-hearted, and hospitable islanders. 

III. The Calmauian Union of Denmark, Norway, and 
Sweden, a.d. 1397-1523. 

438. Constitution and Gov^ernment. — A new period in 
Scandinavian history commences with the union of the three 
crowns under Queen Margaret, the daughter of King Wal- 
demar III. (378), a princess whose extraordinary talents and 
address have rendered her name illustrious as the Semiramis 
of the North. Yet happy circumstances facilitated the suc- 
cessful execution of her great designs. There were no promi- 
nent pretenders in Denmark and Norway, and the arrogant 
and heedless Albrecht of Mecklenburg, then King of Sweden, 
had alienated the good will and respect of the Swedish nation 
by his promoting worthless German knights to the most im- 
portant offices in court and army, and thus gave Margaret an 
easy victory. Albrecht and his German chivalry, while cross- 
ing a frozen lake near Falkbping, in order to attack the 
Danish army, met the fate of the English at Bannockburn, 
and the French at Poitiers — the ice gave way, and the German 
knights, on their barbed war-steeds, ingulfed in the morass, 
were slaughtered or captured by the nimble yeomanry of 
Denmark. Albrecht was taken, imprisoned, and not given 
freedom until he, seven years later, had renounced all preten- 
sions to the northern crowns.""' Margaret then called together 
commissioners from the diets of the three nations, who as- 
sembled at Calmar, on July 12, 1397. There the articles of 
the great Union were discussed and settled, and tbe kingdoms 
accepted young Prince Eric of Pomerania, the nephew of 
Margaret, for her successor. He was crowned with solemnity 
by the Archbishops of Lund and Upsala. By this deed the 
three northern sister nations were to form one permanent 
confederacy, and to be governed by the same monarch. The 
states were to choose the successor among the princes of the 
reigning king ; and, in the event of there being no royal 
progeny, the vacant throne was to be filled by the consent and 
with the concurrence of the Union in the new election. The 
affairs of each kingdom were to be administered by its own 
laws and usages ; biit treaties with foreign powers were not 
to be concluded without common consent. An attack, how- 
ever, upon any one of the confederated states was to be con- 
sidered as an aggression upon all, and to be repelled by their 
joint forces. The Act of Calmar was a mere sketch, which 
left the widest field for able and intelligent monarchs to build 
up a magnificent empire in the north. The daughter of 
Waldemar ruled the immense territories from the Icy Ocean 
to the Eider, — a country destined by nature herself to unity, 

""'The manuers in Scandinavia were still very coarse during the 
fourteenth century. Albei't of Mecklenburg itsed to call Margaret the 
Breechless Queen — Dronninc/ Buxelijs — and he sent her a whetstone, 
three feet in length, with the intimation to lay aside her sword and 
attend to sharpening her needles. This ungracious compliment the 
Danish Queen answered by sending him in return a chemise of hers 
attached to a flagstaff for his colors, when marching his army against 
her. Nor did this epigrammatic war terminate with the defeat of 
Albert at Falkriping, for Margaret ordered her indiscreet prisoner to 
her presence, and clapped a fool's cap, with a tail nineteen yards long, 
on his head, for a mock crown, and sent him, thus exposed to the scoff- 
ings of the populace, to the dreary prison vaults of Lindenholm Castle, 
in Skaane. Among the many curious historical relics, still deposited in 
the .sacristy of the splendid cathedral of Upsala, the traveller will be- 
hold the enormous whetstone, the smock banner, and the lengthy fool's 
cap of Prince Albert. 



inhabited by a spirited and brave people, of the same race, 
language, and manners, who, if now united by constitution and 
government, might have formed one of the most important 
elements in the civilization and development of the political 
system of Europe ; it might have flourished by commerce, navi- 
gation and fisheries, possessing all the coasts and islands of the 
Baltic and the Northern Ocean. The kindred dialects of 
Danish and Swedish would then have melted into one, and the 
full strength of the three numerous warlike tribes, if directed 
toward the protection and aggrandizement of the LTnion, would 
have been able, by so easily defensible coasts, to decide the su- 
premacy in the North. The great mind of Margaret, no doubt, 
had a presentiment of the important results which might be 
obtained for the welfare of her people by this combination, and 
she flattered herself with the bright hope of having already 
gained her point by the unanimous election of a successor ; 
but the prudent queen could hardly have chosen a more un- 
worthy prince than Eric of- Pomerania, who, immediately on 
her death, in 1412,^°* by his vain, cowardly, and unjust coii 
duct, produced a reviving animosity and hatred between Danes 
and Swedes, which soon became the cause of civil dissensions 
and feuds that caused the Union to remain a phantom until 
it vanished at the Stockholm massacre by Christian the 
Tyrant, in 1523. Eric treated the Swedes with scorn as a 
conquered nation. Denmark considered herself as the prin- 
cipal state, the royal seat of the Union kings ; she sent her 
nobles to govern Sweden with an iron rod ; the Swedes felt 
indignant at this partiality, and were ever ready to rise in 
defence of their nationality ; while the cities of the Hanseatic 
Lea.gue, who by the most arrogant measures had appropriated 
to themselves the entire northern traffic, sought to counteract 
every union of the Scandinavian nations, and to maintain 
their hostility and internal weakness by all possible means. 
Thus the breach widened more and more. The Swedes 
raised Charles Knudson to the throne in 1448 ; and, though 
the Swedish clergy and part of the nobility sided with Den- 
mark and called King Christian I. to the throne in 1471, the 
defeat of the Danish army near Stockholm, October 10, again 
dispelled all hope of a renewed union. During this long series 
of dissensions the constitutions of Denmark and Sweden had 
taken a different development. In Denmark, the nobility had 
fettered down the kings by capitulations, which brought almost 
the entire executive power into the hands of the state council 
— Rigsraad — composed of the most powerful nobles, while 
the free landholders — the Bonder — successively were de 
prived even of their personal liberty, and became the serfs — 
tenants in soccage — on the immense estates of the counts and 
barons. All the burdens of the State, save that of its defence, 
were thrown off the shoulders of the privileged classes, and 
heaped on the citizens and peasantry. Civilized Denmark 
sank, while barbarous Sweden rose. In the latter country, 
the nation was likewise represented by the state council ; but 
the mass of the Swedish people had better preserved their in- 
dependence" than in Denmark ; in the mountain regions there 
existed no nobility ; there the free and proud highlander 
stalked about with the mien of a nobleman ; only the armor 

=" SOVEREIGNS OF THE CALMARIAN UNION, 1397-1523. 

KINGS OF DEXMAKK. ADMINISTRATORS OK SWEDEN. 

Margaret . . .a.d. 1412 Charles Knudsoti iism-ps 

Uric, deposed . . " 1439 the thiione . . .a. d. 144-8 

Christopher III. ■ ■ " 1448 Charles Knud^07i expeUed, 

Christian Z, of Oldenburg 1481 but finally restored,- 

Rans (John) . . " 1513 and dies ..." 1470 

Christian II. deposed . " 1522 Stc7i Sfure, the Elder . " 1503 

Flees to Germany . " 1523 Svante Sture . . " 1512 

Captured and imprisoned 1532 Sten Sture, the Younger " 1520 

Dies in misery . • " 1559 Gustavus Vasa {kmg, Vol^) 1560 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1500. SWEDEN. 



149 



made the knight ; every tenant who appeared mounted on his 
war-horse in steel armor, brandishing his lance at the military 
gatherings, enjoyed the privileges of the aristocracy itself, 
and this feeling of equality between yeoman and nobleman has 
been the palladium of the Swedish constitution down to the 
present day. However violent the parties of the church and 
the aristocracy became in their aspiration to power, they 
needed the support of the people, who universally decided the 
question against Denmark. And then the Knudsous, the 
Engelbrechtsons, and the Stures were decidedly statesmen 
and warriors of greater talents than the crowned Erics, Christo- 
phers, and Christians — all of them G-ermans by birth, who, in 
the distress of the times, were called to fill the Danish throne, 
and fought their battles, not with the sons of the land, but 
with bands of German mercenaries and poor adventurers, who 
flocked to Denmark to be defeated by the spears and halberds 
of the Dalecarlians in Sweden and the Ditmarskers in Hol- 
stein. The untoward relations of Sleswig, between Denmark 
and Holstein, maimed the strength of the former, and Sweden 
eluded her grasp. Different was the position of Norway ; the 
turbulent princes of the dynasty of old Harald Haarfager had 
died off. Norway had no nobility; her Odehbonder (223, 
296) were freemen, living on their own estates ; they wished 
for tranquillity, and were occupied with their fishing, agricul- 
ture, and bear-hunting, under the mild sway of the Danish 
kings, who seldom visited that distant country, though it must 
be owned tliat Norway made little or no progress ; it had no 
national representation of its own, and took no part in the 
diets — Rigsdage — of Denmark; it had no university, and 
continued for nearly four centuries to send its youths for edu- 
cation to the colleges of Copenhagen. Thus Norway vanishes 
from history towards the close of the middle ages, after having 
performed so wild, but brilliant a part in the times of the 
Norman conquests and the crusades. 

439. Divisions of Provinces, Cities, and Historical 
Sites. — As Sweden now enters boldly upon the great theatre of 
history, on which she is to perform so important a part in the 
following centuries, we shall give a more detailed account of 
her geography in the fifteenth century, and only indicate some 
few changes in Denmark and Norway. 

I, The Kingdom of Sweden. — Before the union of 
the Suithian and Gothic tribes, Sweden had beeii divided 
into the two distinct kingdoms of Suithiod and Gothland 
(225). On the accession of the dynasty of the Folkungar, and 
the erection of the archiepiscopal see of Upsala (about a. d. 
1250), a more regular government was established by Mag- 
nus I., Ladulaas (Barn-door Lock), who, in 1278, took the 
title of Kmg of the Swedes and the Goths. In the four- 
teenth century the kingdom was divided into four regions con- 
taining twenty provinces : — I. Southern Region, — Goth- 
land, Gothaland (Gothia), with the provinces, 1, East Goth- 
land, 2, West Gothland, 3, Smaaland, and A:,Dalsland, which 
bordered east on the Baltic, south on Denmark, west on Nor- 
way, and north on the province of Sweden. The large lakes 
Wenern and Wettern, surrounded by forest-clad hills, occu- 
pied the centre ; on the south, a fertile plain extended to the 
more dreary table-land of Smaaland, whose soil gave only a 
scanty produce of oats and barley. Falkoping, on a small 
lake in West Gothland, where King Albrecht was totally 
defeated and captured by the Danish General Ivar Lykke, 
Feb. 24, 1389. Caltnar,,on the west of Smaaland, opposite 
the island of Oeland. In its old castle, formerly esteemed 
one of the keys of the kingdom, was held the congress of the 
northern nations in 1397, which acceded to the celebrated 
treaty of the Calmarian Union. Bogesimd, south of Fal- 



koping, on the lake Aasund. Here, on the frozen lake, was 
fought the bloody battle in which Otto Krumpen, with the 
Danish army, defeated the Swedes, January 19, 1520. The 
Administrator of Sweden, Sten Sture, fell in the action, and 
Stockholm opened her gates to Christian the Tyrant, who 
soon was to deluge her streets with the blood of her noblest 
and most generous citizens. 

440. II. Central Region. — Svealand, or Sweden, with 
the provinces, 5, Sbdernianland, 6, JJ'pland, 7, Westman- 
land, %, Nbrike, 9,Wa}rmela7id, 10, Dalarne, 11, Gcstrik- 
land, and 12, Helsingeland, bordering east on the Bothnian 
Gulf, south on Gothland, west and north on Norway (Herje- 
dalen) and Norrland. The lake Mdlarn, -^iih. its hundreds of 
islands, presents every where romantic views ; the soil is good 
in many parts ; horses, cattle, and sheep are numerous ; yet 
the nlost interesting scenery of Svea is the mountain range 
of the Copper Mines — Dalarne — on the frontiers of Norway. 
Stockholm (225) was early the capital of the Swedish kings. 
Northwest of the city, on the steep eminence BrunJceberg, was 
fought the obstinate battle of the 10th October, 1471, in 
which King Christian I. and the Danish army were totally 
defeated by the Swedish yeomanry and the garrison of Stock- 
holm. The king was wounded by an arrow ; thousands of 
Danes perished in their disorderly retreat to the fleet ; and 
camp, banners and kingdom were lost. On the great square 
in Stockholm, Christian II., the Tyrant, ordered ninety-four ec- 
clesiastics, senators, knights, and burgomasters, the most distm- 
guished and virtuous men in Sweden, to be beheaded, as guilty 
of heresy and schism, on the Stli of November, 1520. Loaded 
cannon were planted on the avenues ; the troops occupied the 
streets, and the deathlike silence in the terrified city was only 
broken by the toll of the castle bell during this horrible scene, 
which cost the bigoted despot three crowns and a life of exile 
and misery.^"^ Strengnds, south, on the Malarn. Here 
Gustav Vasa, after the expulsion of the Danes, assembled a 
diet, where he was unanimously called to the throne, on 
June 6, 1523. Nykoping, in Sildermanland, on the coast of 
the Baltic, with a strong castle, in which King Birger of 
Sweden, in 1318, imprisoned his brothers Waldemar and 
Eric ; and, throwing the keys of the prison into the sea, 
left the unhappy princes to perish by hunger. JJpsala, the 
ancient seat of Paganism (106), had become that of learning 
by the erection of the celebrated university by Sten Sture, 
in 1477. Falun, situated in a deep valley, between lakes, 
near the Dal-elf, is the centre of the mining district — the an- 
cient Jernbceraland (225), and the home of the brave and 
honest Dalecarlians, who, on the appearance of Gustav Yasa 
in the valley, rose in their might, defeated the mercenaries of 
King Christian II. in every battle, and carried the young 
hero in triumph to Stockholm in 1523. 

441. III. Northern Region. — Norrland consisted of 
the provinces of 13, Wester- Boitn, 14, Medelpad, 15, Anger- 
manland, and 16, the Eastern Lapmark, on the frontiers of 
Finnland. The large central regions, Jemteland and Herje- 
dalen, belonged to Norway, and were not ceded to Sweden 
until the treaty of Bromsebro in the year 1645. Hernosand, 
Lideaa, Piteaa and Umeaa, are the only towns on these wild 
and dreary coasts. Northern Sweden was inhabited by Lap- 
landers and Swedes ; the former were either mountaineers, 
inhabitants of the forests, fishermen, or vagabonds, who hired 
themselves out to the Swedish farmers. The rigor of the cii 

™''More than six hundred men of liigli standing and influence were 
beheaded or hung in dift'ei'eut parts of the realm, before the 3'oung 
Gustav Vasa, at the head of his mountaineers, drove the Danish tyfant 
out of the country. 



150 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1500. DENMARK AND NORWAY. 



mate, want and misery, and, in consequence, the barrenness of 
the Lapland women, prevented the increase of their popula- 
tion. 

442. IV. Eastern Region. — Finnland, with the pro- 
vinces, 17, Nyla7id or Finnland Proper, 18, Tavastland, 
19, Oest.er-Bottn, and 20, Savolax or Kyrialand, on the 
frontiers of Permia, in Russia. Finnland is the Region of 
Great Lakes. That extensive country was inhabited by 
Queans, or Quains (225), Tavastians, Karelians, Suomi, 
Finns, and Tchudes, who all lived in eternal fetfds with one 
another, until the cross banner of King Eric of Sweden ap- 
peared on the coast. After a most bloody war, which lasted 
for more than one century and a half — 1156 — the Finnish 
tribes were subdued and converted to Christianity. The 
Swedes built on the western coast the castles of Korshobn, 
Bjorneborg, Nystad, and Aaho, while the Russian armies 
invaded the eastern regions on the Ladoga. But after the 
defeat of the Russians on the Kalka, by the Mongols, in 
1224 (304), they disappeared in the north, and the Swedes, 
under Birger Jurl, the founder of Stockholm (225), penetrated 
victoriously into the interior, and built the strong Tavasthus. 
The jMarshal Jorkel Knudson conquered Kyriala, or Carelia, 
and founded Viborg, on the Finnic Grulf, and advancing boldly 
upon the Neva, built Landscrona, on the site of the present 
Saint Petersburg. But there the Swedes, for the first time, 
came in hostile contact with the Russians. The rich republi- 
cans of Novgorod could not suffer the mail-clad warriors of 
the north in so close a neighborhood. Swarms of Russians 
invaded Finnland, burning and destroying; several of the 
young Swedish colonies were laid in ashes, the settlers 
slaughtered, and their families carrried off. In 1318, the 
Russians besieged Aabo, and spread devastation through the 
lake districts ; but the interest of both parties demanded 
peace, and the first treaty between Russia and Sweden was 
signed in 1323, at Noteborg, on the Lake Ladoga, according 
to which the Swedes had to retire thirty-six versts west of the 
Neva, the mouth of which thus remained in the possession of 
the merchants of G-reat Novgorod, and the Syster back (Sister 
Brook) became thenceforth the frontier between the two hos- 
tile nations. The border forays, nevertheless, continued ; the 
Swedish crusading spirit lasted longer than that of the southern 
nations ; but it was not until the year 1462, when Ivan I., after 
his victories over the Mongols, had restored the Moscovite or 
Russian empire, that the war on the Baltic took a serious cha- 
racter. Finnland had become a highly flourishing country, 
and the strong fortresses of the Swedes repelled all the attacks 
of their barbarous neighbors. 

443. II. The Kingdom of Norway had been divided into 
four provinces, or Stifter : 1, Aggershuus, 2. Christian- 
sand, 3, Bergen, and 4, Trondhiem. It enjoyed a perfect 
tranquillity, and the national antipathy between Norwegians 
and Swedes had not yet taken the violent character which it 
afterwards assumed. Christiania, in Aggershuus, had become 
the capital. Bergen, the first city for commerce and wealth, 
had suffered much from the attacks of the Hanseatic League 
(403) until it entered the confederacy and became the 
great emporium for their northern commerce. Ojjslo, the an- 
cient capital, near Christiania, became in 1508, the scene of 
the only rebellion which the Norwegians ever attempted 
against the Kings of Denmark. Herulf Hydefad, the leader, 
together with some other noblemen, bishops, and their parti- 
sans, were surrounded by Prince Christian, taken prisoners, 
and executed. It was, perhaps, the successful massacre in 
Opslo which, twelve years later, prompted him, as Danish 
king, to renew it on a larger scale in Stockholm. 



444. III. The Kingdom OF Denmark seemed to have been 
placed at the head of the LTnion, yet this honor cost her im- 
mensely dear — her liberty at home, and her treasures, armies, 
and reputation, abi'oad : weakened and crest-fallen, she relin- 
quished her bloody grasp. Of all her German conquests there 
remained nothing but the islands of Riigen and Oesel. Wal- 
demar III. had conquered the large and fertile island of 
Gothland (Gulland), in 1360, where he made a rich booty in 
the city of Wisby, the seat of the Hanseatic commerce, and 
the stronghold of the Baltic pirates. Copenhagen (293) be- 
came the permanent residence of the kings of Denmark in 
1440, and a university was erected in 1479, which ever since 
has maintained its rank among the most distinguished in 
Europe. It was principally the downfall of Wisby which 
drew commerce to Copenhagen. Jealous of this new rival, 
the Hanseatic League sent, in 1428, a large fleet and 
12,000 German troops against it; yet Queen Philippa, the 
daughter of Henry IV. of England, at the head of the citizens, 
defended it so heroically, that she defeated the Liibeckers in 
several successful sorties, and forced them to raise the siege. 
But instead of praise and affection, the admirable princess 
only received the grossest insult from her husband. King Eric, 
which caused her death. An important change had taken 
place in the geography of mediaeval Denmark with regard to 
the duchy of Schleswig and its relations to the Counts of Hol- 
stein. On the extinction of the male line of King Abel's de- 
scendants, in 1375, the duchy of Schleswig (South Jutland) 
had reverted to the crown of Denmark. Yet Queen Margaret, 
desiring the aid of the Counts of Holstein against the over- 
bearing Hanseatic Confederacy, bestowed the duchy upon 
Count Gerhard, of Rendsborg, as a Danish banner fief for 
the usual military service to the crown. Eric, her successor, 
proud of his power, demanded back the duchy, but the war- 
like Counts of Holstein were neither daunted by the arms of 
the three northern kingdoms, nor by the sentence and threats 
of the German Emperor Sigismond, who adjudged the whole of 
Schleswig to Denmark, in 1424. Henry of Holstein had de- 
feated a Danish army of sixty thousand troops, at Immervad, 
before the Liibeckers besieged Copenhagen. Eric was deposed, 
and the first act of his successor, Christopher III., the Bavarian, 
was the recognition of the hereditary rights of the house of 
Schauenburg (377) to the duchy of Schleswig. At the diet 
in Colding, in 1439, Duke Adolph, the successor of Henry, 
who fell before Flensborg, in 1427, kneeling down before 
his liege lord, took the oath of allegiance, and received from 
the hand of the king the banner of investiture. Yet Denmark, 
who had gained nothing by her doubtful union with Sweden, 
felt most deeply this loss of her finest and most fertile pro- 
vince, and all her efforts now tended towards its recovery. 
The Danish nobility, in compliance with this feeling, after the 
death of King Christopher, in 1448, sent a deputation to Duke 
Adolph of Scldesivig- Holstein, to offer him the crown of Den- 
mark. The Holsteiner refused the honor, but directed the at- 
tention of the Danes to his young sister's son. Count Christian 
of Oldenborg, who accepted the crown, and became the founder 
of the present dynasty of Denmark, in the year 1448. On 
the subsequent death of Duke Adolph (1459), Christian inher- 
ited both Holstein and Schleswig, the latter of which ought 
then, as an escheated fief, to have been incorporated with the 
kingdom, or, at least, its relation to Denmark to have been 
plainly defined by a new investiture to the king, as Count of 
Holstein. But this important act was not called into exist- 
ence on account of another difiiculty. Duke Adolpb of Hol- 
stein, moved, perhaps, by his old rancor toward Denmark, 
against whom he had spent his youth in hard fighting, and 
still more by his natural desire to preserve the close union of 
his two beautiful states, Schleswig and Holstein, had per- 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. POLAND AND LITHUANIA. 



151 



suaded his young nephew, Christian of Oldenborg, at the time 
when the Danish crown was oifered to him, to renounce his 
right to Schleswig as King of Denmark, and to promise that 
the duchy of Schleswig and the kingdom never should be 
united again under the same sceptre, and that the duchy of 
Schleswig-Holstein should remain for ever undivided — ewich 
tosammende ungedelt}"^ But the wary Christian, who wanted 
to stand well both with Danes and Grermans, did not dare to 
claim his hereditary right in Holstein, and give Schleswig 
back to Denmark. He simply offered himself as a candidate 
for the free election of the Schleswig and the Holstein nobil- 
ity. This he obtained ; he then paid oflF the many claims of 
the collateral lines, such as the Counts of Schauenborg Pinne- 
berg, persuaded the German Emperor Frederic III. to give 
Holstein the rank of a duchy, and left the feiidal question 
about Schleswig undecided.'-" 

445. The nobles of the Danish council, at that time, no 
doubt, considered this election of a Holstein prince to the 
throne of Denmark, as a masterly coup d^etat, which thus peace- 
fully brought both the duchies under the crown. Yet the inhab- 
itants of the small district of Ditmarsken refused their homage. 
They formed a free commonwealth, which was governed by 
bailiffs and aldermen, and, united by the love of independence, 
they maintained themselves in this situation against all aggres- 
sion. When, therefore, King Hans (John), in the year 1500, at 
the head of a large army of feudal chivalry and German lance- 
knechts attempted to invade their marches, the brave Ditmarsk- 
ers defeated him on the dikes between ilieWo?y and Hemming- 
sted, on the 13th of February, with so terrible a slaughter that 
three hundred and sixty nobles and iifteen thousand soldiers 
perished on the battle-field. The king himself escaped with 
difficulty, having lost his banner, the celebrated old Danebroge 
(377), his camp and baggage, and was forced, through the 
mediation of the Hanseatic cities, to recognize the indepen- 
dence of the victors. Thus, then, does the middle age of 
Denmark close with a most disastrous defeat, and its modern 
era opens ominously enough with the massacres of Opslo and 
Stockholm, and the dissolution of the Calinarian Union. 



lY. Thi5 Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania. 

446. Extent and Flourishing State of Poland under 
THE Jagellons. — A glauce at the map of the fourteenth 
century will at once show the urgent political necessity of the 
fierce wars of the Polish kings against the Order of the Teu- 

'"" The cm-ious Low-O-erman document of Count Christian of Olden- 
borg, containing this illegal promise, is dated June 28th, 1448, more 
than a year before his coronation at Copenhagen, as King of Denmark, 
October 28th, 1449. It had, of course, no validity, because Count 
Christian could not give away any territory or rights of the kingdom 
of Denmark, whose crown he did not yet wear ; nay, he could not even 
do so after he was a crowned king, except with the consent of the 
states in a general diet or Danehof. This renunciation of the young 
candidate may, therefore, be considered null and void. Yet it has for 
centuries been the cause of much trouble to Denmark, and it was 
mainly on account of this antiquated and absurd document, that all 
the innocent blood was spilt during the late Schleswig war in 1848- 
1850 — until at last the heavy sword of the victors at Ban, Dyppel, 
Fredericia, Idsted, and Frederikstad, has cut it to atoms, and proved 
that the duchy of Schleswig or South Jutland, is an integral part — the 
very flesh and bone of old Denmark. 

^^ Our space does not permit us to give here the later history of 
the Schleswig-Holstein question, which belongs more properly to the 
Historical Geography of Modern Europe. See our first article in the 
New-York American Review: Wars between the Banes and Germans 
for the possession of Schleswig. Vol. II., No. 5, new series (September) 
1848. The following articles describing the late events in Denmark, 
have not \et been published. 



tonic knights. By the cession of Samogitia (380) to the Order 
by Duke Witowd of Lithuania, in 1394, Poland had become 
entirely excluded from the Baltic coast; and the narrow-minded 
politics of the Teutonic knights did not fail to throw still greater 
impediments in the way of the exports of Poland and its com- 
munication with the Hanseatic cities on the Lower Vistula. 
Yet the important step for the final humiliation of the military 
hierarchy had already been taken, in a. d. 1386, by the marriage 
of Princess Hedwig, the younger daughter of King Louis of 
Anjou, with Jagellon, Grand Duke of Lithuania, and the al- 
liance of the two powerful nations, the Poles and Lithuanians. 
But great difficulties — the ambition of the Lithuanian princes 
and the vanity and pride of the nations themselves — still pro- 
tracted the permanent union and brotherhood of the Lith- 
uanian and Polish nationalities. This auspicious event took 
place at last at Lnblin, in 1568. The male line of the old 
Piast dynasty (250, 312) became extinct with Kasimir the 
Great in 1370.™ The Jagellons followed from 1386 to 1572; 
yet Poland had already become an elective aristocratic repub- 
lic since the celebrated diet of Chenciny, in 1331. During 
this period there were in Poland four distinct classes of in- 
habitants. First, the Voivods and Starosts, or earls, the 
high commanders of the provinces, who, together with the 
bishops, formed the council of the king. The second class 
formed the Zonanie, or landholders, great and small — some 
with thousands of acres and thousands of tenants, others 
with small farms, themselves tilling their fields — yet all were 
nobles, with emblazoned shields, fighting on horseback, and 
forming the Polish feudal army — PospoHte Rusccnis — of a 
hundred thousand cavalry. The third class were the tenants 
— the Kmetons or Wiesniacy — that is, people living in vil- 
lages, the peasantry ; they were a free and independent people, 
but they were mostly tenants doing service in soccage on the 
estates of the wealthier nobles ; their public duty was to 
guard the castles — Grod — in time of war, and all those who 
volunteered to fight the battles of the country in the open 
field, on horseback, were ranked with the nobles or knights — 
SzlacJizikcs. The fourth class of people were the prisoners 
of war and their descendants ; these were considered as slaves 
of the voivods or nobles who made them prisoners ; their 
condition, however, was not worse than that of the English 
villains (284) and tenants at will. All the serfs were emanci- 
pated at once, and declared freemen, like the peasants, by the 
great national assembly held in the city of Wizlica, in 1347. 

-"'Poland owes to Kasimir, the Peasant King, her constitution, con- 
solidation, and greatness; he united the duchy of Halitch (302-312) 
with the kingdom in 1340; lightened the burdens of the Kmetons — 
peasants — and brought an admirable order in the administration of 
the kingdom. His nephew, Louis of Anjou, King of Hungaria, fol- 
lowed him on the throne until 1381. Tlie beautiful Hedwig, youngest 
daughter of Louis, was then elected queen, and that virtuous princess, 
silencing the voice of her heart, gave generously her hand to the 
elderly heathen Duke Jagellon, on the 17th February, 1386, and se- 
cured thus the union of thirty millions, the wide extent and pros- 
perity of glorious Poland. The Jagellon dynasty is the following : — 
Jagellon (Jagal, Jagiel), after liis baptism, 14 Februarj', 1386, called 
Wladislaw II., 1386-1434; Wladislaw III., his son, perishes in the 
battle at Varna, against the Ottomans, 1434-1444: Kasimir IV., 
Grand Duke of Lithuania his brother, 1444-1492; John I. Albert, 
1492-1501; Alexander, loOl-loOQ ; Sigismund I, 1506-1548; Sigis- 
mund II., 1548-1572. This was the period of the farthest extent and 
highest bloom of Poland. It reached from Pomerania, on the Baltic, 
all along the frontiers of Silesia, Hungary, and Moldavia, to the shores 
of the Black Sea; embraced all Prussia, Samogitia, Courland, Livonia, 
and Esthland as feudal principalities, and ran eastward along the 
Diina, by Smolensk and Novgorod Seversky, through the Ukraine, to 
the mouth of the Dnieper. On the west, this immense frontier stood 
firm for centuries; but on the east began already (a. d. 1586) the fear- 
ful wars with the powerful Czars of Moscow. It was the term of the 
grandeur of Poland, and how terrible was her decline and fall ' 



152 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. POLAND AND LITHUANIA. 



This diet also limited the power of the kings, and extended 
the earlier constitution of Chenciny in loSl.-"' 

447. The citAes in Poland were not numerous ; but they 
enjoyed nearly all the privileges of the G-erman free towns ; 
they were exempted from the feudal regulations, and Krakau, 
the beautiful capital of ancient Poland, on the Vistula, was a 
prominent member of the Hanseatic Confederacy. Yet com- 
merce and industry could not flourish in Poland ; the long 
exclusion from the Baltic, the oppressive rule of the nobility, 
the badness of the roads, and, most of all, the pernicious 
influence of the hundred thousands of Jews settled in the 
country — like a cloud of locusts — smothered already in the 
bud every generous attempt at national industry and commer- 
cial development. "Master Jew" — Pan-Zyd — was the 
mighty man, who ruled both kings and diets, and held the fate 
of the national credit and the treasury in his hands. 

448. The Poles are the most spirited and handsome of all 
the Sclavonian nations. They are open, generous, and hos- 
pitable. Their bravery in war, and fortitude in adversity, 
are as unrivalled as their social and domestic virtues at home. 
The fair sex are celebrated in the north for their beauty and 
patriotism ; they surpass the Russian women in symmetry of 
form, and the Germans in the delicacy of their complexion. 
The Polish ladies have an excellent education, and are more 
animated and agreeable in their manners than the women of 
Russia. After the alliance with Lithuania, and the victory 
at Tannenberg over the Teutonic knights, Poland enjoyed 
for more than a century a very happy position : the resources 
of the country increased by commerce, agriculture, and mining, 
after the road of the Vistula had become opened to the Baltic. 
The victorious arms of the Jagellon princes secured the dis- 
tant frontiers ; and, at home, the lively Polaks lived in plenty 
and pleasure. The nobles, and even the Jews, wore splendid 
dresses of velvet and silk, richly lined with sables and pre- 
cious furs. In war, they disdained the heavy suits of plate- 
armor then in use, and preferred the light and graceful costume 
of the Hulans. Nor did they neglect literary polish and ac- 
quirements ; their language and literature began to flourish, 
and the newly-established University of Krakau — 1369 — be- 
came crowded with learned professors and studious youths.''" 

449. Division into Provinces and Voivodats ; Cities 
AND Historical Sites.— A. The Kingdom of Poland (250, 
312) comprehended : I. Polonia Magna, Great Foland, 
with the duchies of Mazovia and Cujavia. The former a 
most important province, situated on the Vistula, the Bitg, 
and the Narev, had, since 1220, its own ducal dynasty, and 
was not united to the kingdom before 1463-76, and the 
western parts only in 1526; it contained the principalities of 
Flock, Warsawa, and Czersk, with the cities Pultusk and 
Praga on the eastern bank of the Vistula, opposite to Wasaiva 

'""^ Poland succeeded in reforming her people by militaiy merit and 
education ; in the course of a single century about one-eighth of her 
population became nobles, and in 1500, when her population did not 
exceed ^/Keoi millions, she boasted of four hundred and eighty thousand 
votei-s ; while France, in 1847, after so many bloody i-evolutions, with 
a population of thirty-Jive millions, numbered only one hundred and 
eighty thousand voters, — three hundred thousand less than Poland 
numbered three centuries ago with her fifteen millions. The nobility 
of Poland sprang from among the people, and were the creation of an 
adopted reform of the nation : while the feudal nobility of the rest of 
Europe originated in the ascendency of a conquering race over the 
original inhabitants. 

"'" See, for interesting details on this latter period of the medieval 
liistory of Poland, the admirable work of Prof Joachim Lelewel, in 
the German translation, GescMchte Po^eras, (Leipzig, 1847), with an 
Atlas, pp. 96, 100, 116-12.5. 



(Warsaw), then a small city. Cujavia, likewise long separated, 
and ruled by its own princes, fell back to the mother country 
in 1401. It was the border region toward Prussia, and con- 
tinually exposed to the wars with the Teutonic Order. Its 
voivodats were Dobryn, Wlaslaw, Dobrzyn, and Brzesc, 
with the commercial cities of Bromberg, Lobaii, Coronoro 
(Polish Crown), colonized with Germans. Voivodats, \,Posen, 
on the frontier of Brandenburg ; 2, Kalisch, east of Silesia ; 
3, Wielun, brought back to the crown in 1401; 4, Sieradz ; 
5, Lenczyc, on the Warthe ; 6, Ratua, and 7, the principality 
Lotvicz. II. Pomerellia, or Polish Prussia, which was 
ceded to Poland by the Teutonic Order, in the disastrous 
treaty of 1466, with the thriving G\iie& Danzig (382), Oliva, 
Elbing, Stargard, Graudenz, Culm, the first conquest and 
colony of the knights in 1228; Marieniverder and Marienbiirg, 
with magnificent monuments of the order ; Thprn, on the Vis- 
tula, the birthplace of the celebrated Pole, Nicholas Copernik 
(Copernicus), who, " diving through the mists of error, ren- 
dered venerable by time, discovered the true system of the 
world, and established for himself a name that will live while 
sun and moon endure." The first printed copy of his masterly 
work he received dying, on the 23d of May, 1543, and sur- 
vived the joy only a few hours.' Ermeland, inclosed in 
Prussia, with the city of Braunsberg, on the coast of the 
Frische-Haff ; Seeburg, Wartcnstein, and- Altenstein, were 
strong castles of the knights. III. Podlachia, east of Ma- 
zovia, with Augustowo, Bielsk, and the extensive possessions 
of the Radzivil family. 

450. II. Polonia Minor. — Lesser Poland — south of the 
former, bounded on the west by Silesia, south by the Carpa- 
thian range, separating it from Hungary, and east by Ha- 
litch. The principal voivodats were Krakau, Sandomirz, 
LiMin, and Bocli.nia. The principalities Zator and Zijos, in 
the Carpathians, were acquisitions from Hungary. Krakau, 
on a high and picturesque site on the Vistula, was the ancient 
metropolis, where the kings were crowned and interred. 
Among the numerous mausoleums is that of Saint Stanislaus, 
Bishop of Krakau, whom King Boleslaus the Bold killed be- 
fore the altar. Near Krakau lie the celebrated mines of 
fossil salt of Bochnia and Wieliczka, which Avere discovered, 
as is said, by Saint Cunegunda, a Hungarian princess, the 
wife of King Boleslaus V., in the year 1351, though the mines 
were neglected, and the works on a large scale did not begin regu- 
larly before 1442, under King Wladislaw III.-" Chenciny, 
north of Krakau, where, in the first general diet of Poland, 
Wladislaw II. Loketek, in the year 1331, laid the foundation 
of the constitution of the kingdom, and the rank and privileges 
of the Szlaclizikes, or nobles, were defined. Wislica, south- 
east of the former : here Kasimir the Great, the son of Wladis- 
law II., in another important diet held 1347, published new 
modifications of the earlier constitution, and the final union of 
Polonia Magna and Minor in one kingdom. All these funda- 
mental laws were written in the Latin language. Sandomirz 
and Lublin were strong fortresses. (3 12). 

451. IV. Halitch (Halicz), or Red Russia, east of 
Lesser Poland, came to the crown in 1392. The city of Ha- 
litch, the earlier capital, on the Dniester, yielded later to 
Lemberg, which took its rank. At Horodloie an important 
diet was held in 1413, in which the Lithuanians were declared 
liable to the same taxes, and subject to the same laws, as the 
Poles. There, too, the arms of the two nations (the white 
eagle for Poland, the armed knight for Lithuania) were united, 

^" The entire city of Wieliczka i-=5 undermined ; the works extend 
on every side some thousand feet, and the depth beneath the lowest 
part of the valley is about eight hundred feet, 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. POLAND AND LITHUANIA. 



and the grand dukes of the latter country were appointed 
by the Kings of Poland. Principalities were Ckelm and 
Belz ; cities, Sambor and Busk. V. Wolhynia, east of 
Haliteh, and VI., Podolia, south of the former, old Li- 
thuanian conquests, were, in 1392, likewise united to the 
Polish crown, to make Jagellon popular among his new 
subjects. Principalities were Czartorisky, Korecz, Czaslaiv, 
and others. Cities, Krzemieniec and Wladimir. VII. 
The vast principality of Kioav (Kijow), on the Dnieper, with 
Bielograd and Perejaslaw. It extended southward below the 
waterfalls of that river ; the whole southern region was inhabit- 
ed by the Saporogian Cossacks, who appear for the first time 
about the year 1320. The origin of their military republic 
has been ascribed to the terror excited among the southern 
Sclavonians by the victories of the Lithuanian prince, Gedhe- 
myn, on his desolating march to Kiow. Swarms of fugitives 
left their country, assembled at the mouth of the Dnieper, and 
formed a number of warlike colonies, which were compelled, 
in order to resist the aggressions both of Lithuanians and 
Mongols, to live on horseback, under a military government, 
and submit to the lance-law. Such a life has its own charms ; 
thousands of new settlers — Cossacks, in the Tartar language 
signifying light-armed horsemen — arrived from the north ; 
they built towns and villages, where they resided with their 
families during winter, but in summer they mounted their 
steeds, and galloped off to the eastern steppes, making con- 
tinual inroads upon the Tartars. The unmarried young men 
were selected as an advanced guard against the enemy, and 
occupied the more exposed regions on the Dnieper and the 
shores of the Euxine. These warlike youths were the Sapo- 
rogues, who drilled in this excellent military school, became 
the most esteemed and feared of the different Cossack hordes 
of the seventeenth century. Their country, between the Bug, 
Dnieper and Don, was also called Malo-Russia, or Lesser Rus- 
sia, and the lower steppes Ukraine, which had an important 
part to perform in modern history.'^''^ 

452. B. G-rand duchy of Lithuania. I. Lithuania Proper, 
between the Njemen and the Duna with the voivodats, Wil- 
na, Troki, Keydany, Olszany, Braclaw, and the cities Wil- 
NA and Wileika, on the Wilja — Grodno and Knowno, on the 
Njemen. Lithuania proper is a very level country ; the great- 
er part of it is covered with sand, intersected with fens and 
marshes. The humid climate there is subject to oppressive 
heat, and to extreme cold. Three or four weeks of a Lithua- 
nian winter proved fatal to the veterans of Napoleon, in 1812. 
The country is covered with immense forests, where bears, 
wolves, wild boars, and beavers are found in thousands. The 
inhabitants resemble the Poles and Russians, though they 
are even less advanced in civilization than these ; struggling 
against poverty, oppressed by slavery, their appearance indi- 
cates their degraded condition. There are still several wealthy 
families of the ancient Polish nobility, among others the Rad- 
ziwils, the Sapiehas, and the Oginski, but their gorgeous pa- 

^'^ The Saporogian Cossacks belong to the Russniaks or Ruihenians, 
also called Russinians and Malo- Russians. This Scla^onian tribe, 
who are distinguished from the eastern Russians by their finer fea- 
tures, dark or hazel eyes, loftier stature, and more harmonious lan- 
guage, have a more generous and confiding character ; the Malo-Rus- 
sian never thinks of to-morrow ; he enjoys his mild climate, and labors 
only when compelled by necessity. The free and fierce Cossacks show 
the Malo-Russian character in its opposition to that of the slavish, 
crouching Weliko, or Great Russians, who have become accustomed to 
the yoke by the lapse of ages. All the inhabitants of Southern Poland, 
Galicia, Ludomiria or Red Russia (Haliteh), the Bukovina, also of 
the northeastern part of Hungary, and many scattered over Wallachia 
and Moldavia belong to this Russniak race. Yet the Cossacks of the 
Don are more mixed with pure Russians. The whole number of that 
race is given at thirteen millions. 

20 



laces are surrounded by wretched cottages. II. Samogitia 
(Szamaithen), extending from the Njemen along the coast of 
the Baltic, toward Livonia, was conquered by the Teutonic 
Order, as an important province for the communication with 
the State of their brothers, the Knights Swordbearers of 
Livonia ; but after the most furious attacks of the Lithuani- 
ans, the knights found themselves obliged to give up the new, 
formidable castles which they had built on the Njemen, such. 
as Jurborg and Christmcmel, and retire from the country in 

1409. The soil of Szamaithen is better than in other parts; 
the plains are well wooded, and large herds of the elk and 
urus wandered formerly in the forests. The Samogitians are 
a simple and superstitious, but brave people, who contended 
long against the Teutonic Knights, and adopted Christianity 
with great reluctance. Miedniki and Rosienna are the only 
towns which deserve such a name. III. White Russia, east 
of Lithuania proper, on the rivers Berezina, Drucz, and Dnieper, 
extended eastward to the principality of Smolensk, and south 
to Black Russia. It was divided into the Voivodats, Witepsk, 
Mzcislaio, Lukoml, Mohilew, and Minsk, with the cities Bo- 
rissoiu on the Berezina, Mohileio, Bobry, and Czasniki. The 
family of Radziwil had large territories in the west. IV. 
Black Russia, south of Lithuania proper and White Russia, 
belonged in part to the great families Sapieha, Radziwil, and 
Olelko. NowoGRODEK was the principal city on the Njemen, 
which had witnessed many a hard fought battle of the Lith- 
uanians with the Teutonic Knights. V. Pgdi.f.sia, south of 
the former, is the marshy region of the numerous tributaries 
of the Pripjet, the Berezina, and the Dnieper ; it is almost 
covered with swamps, on the outskirts of which lay the cities 
Biala, Brzesc, Rosanna, Kamieniec, Slonim, Slucz, Bobruisk, 
and Rogatschew, the latter forming a separate principality. On 
the east of these Lithuanian provinces lay VI., the principality 
of PsKow (Pleskow), VII., that of Smolensk, and farther 
southeast, VIII., the extensive Severian Lands, bordering 
on the Tcherkassian Cossacks, on the Don. Those immense 
tracts formed the border toward the grand duchy of Russia 
during the period of the Mongol Empire, in the thirteenth and 
fourteenth centuries, yet after the restoration of the Mosko- 
wite power, under Czar Iwan the Great, about 1470, they were 
successively reconquered by the Russians; Severia in 1494- 
1526, and Smolensk in 1500. 

453. C. Prussia. — The great battle at Tannenberg, in 

1410, had already decided the fate of the Teutonic Order 
(383). The few fleeing knights that reached Marienburg 
were there besieged by Jagellon, and all the provinces, discon- 
tented with the military hierarchy of the steel-clad monks, 
hastened to submit to the victor. Lezkau, the burgomaster 
of Danzig, saved the knights from destruction, by closing 
the gates of that important maritime city against the Poles. 
But those suspicious tyrants, fearing the power and influence 
of that high-minded man, had the baseness and madness to 
assassinate him with their own daggers. This unheard-of 
crime at once opened the eyes of the Prussian people ; Dan- 
zig, Elbing, Thorn, and other cities, as well as the nobility 
and secular clergy of the maritime provinces, entered into a 
league against the order in the year 1 440. The whole of western 
Prussia revolted in 1454, and placed itself under the protec- 
tion of King Kasimir IV. of Poland, who confirmed the priv- 
ileges of the inhabitants, and guaranteed the Prussians their 
separate independent diets. Yet the knights made the most 
desperate resistance, supported by adventurers from Germany. 
The disastrous war which was the consequence of this revolt, 
lasted twelve years ; and, in the course of it, the eastern part 
of Prussia, which had remained under the authority of the 
knights, was laid waste by the Poles ; two thousand churches 



154 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. RUSSIAls^ EMPIRE. 



were destroyed; and out of twenty-one thousand villages, 
eighteen thousand were reduced to ashes. The peace con- 
cluded at Thorn confirmed the Poles in the possession of 
Western Prussia, the territories of Culm, Michelow, and 
Pomerelleii (380), together with the cities of Marienburg, 
Stulivi, Elbing, and Christburg, and the bishopric Ermeland, 
■whose bishop had recognized the supremacy of Poland. Na- 
tangen, Samland, and the other eastern districts (380), the 
knio-hts were permitted to retain by acknowledging themselves 
vassals of Poland. Yet the haughty warrior-monks could not 
long bear such a humiliation ; they grasped the sword again 
in 1520, against King Sigisniund I. of Poland. But the 
times of crusades, chivalry and monachism were passing 
away. The artillery of the Poles demolished without dif- 
ficulty their strongest castles, and the light arquebusiers 
brought down the stoutest knights, who in vain filled Ger- 
many with their lamentations. The Reformation bad thrown 
its light on the world, and now nobody cared for the monks 
in Prussia. In their despair, the knights chose for their grand 
master the young Prince Albert of Brandenburg, who, by 
the most remarkable artifice, secured his sovereignty through 
the destruction of the order. Albert visited Luther and 
Melancthon in Wittemberg, and learned from the great re- 
formers the invalidity of the vows of monks and knights. 
Having thus become a Protestant, the Prince married Dor- 
othea, Princess of Denmark, and invited his knights to follow 
his excellent example. No doubt the greater part of them 
preferred marriage to celibacy ; they adopted the reform, re- 
nounced Rome and the Pope, and, from a rank equal to that 
of priestly sovereigns, the Teutonic knights now gladly de- 
scended to the condition of secular nobles. The closing scene 
took place in Krakau, April 8, 1525. On the square before 
the palace the royal throne had been erected, adorned with 
the united escutcheons of the White Eagle for Poland and 
the Mounted Knight for Lithuania. There Margrave Albert 
of Brandenburg, the grand master, with his Teutonic knights, 
knelt down before the Polish King Sigismund, and, surren- 
dering the banner of the order, swore allegiance to his sover- 
eign for the Pi-ussian territories ; Sigismund then in return 
embraced him as Duke of Prussia, and handed him the banner 
of his new dignity. Thus the order was expelled from the 
Baltic. A few stubborn old knights transferred their chapter 
to Mergentheim, in Wiirtemberg, where their order was sup- 
pressed by the Emperor Napoleon in 1809, and their estates 
sold and dispersed. Yet it appears that the skeletons of the 
order have recently been called forth from their sepulchres, 
and that their shadows still stalk about in Germany, with an 
Austrian archduke for their ghostly grand master — Beutch- 
meister. 

454. D. Livonia, EsTHONiA and Courland had a some- 
what different fate from that of Prussia. On the dissolution 
of the Teutonic Order in the latter county, the Ueermeister of 
the Knights Swordbearers (380) proclaimed his independence, 
under the protection of the German Emperor Charles V. 
The knights therefore continued to occupy those coast-lands 
until the fearful advance of the Russians under the Czar Ivan 
Wasiljewitch II. ; the sword-knights were defeated, and their 
castles stormed. Esthonia, with the capital, Reval, called in 
the Swedes, and surrendered to King Eric XIV. by capitula- 
tion. Denmark occupied the bishoiirics Oesel, on the island, 
and Pilten, on the mainland, while Livonia hurried to do 
homage to King Sigismund II, of Poland, who, at the diet 
held in Wilna, November 28, 1561, united this country with 
Litliuania, but granted the two western provinces, Courland 
and Semigallia, as a secular hereditary duchy to the last 
grand master Gotthard Kottler, 



455. E. Silesia, an important possession of the Polish 
crown, was ceded by the pacific King Kasimir to John of Bo- 
hemia, at the celebrated congress of Wischerad, in 1335, and 
lost for ever. That rich province had been awarded to princes 
of the royal family of the Piasts, and these appanages soon 
became separate states, which were again subdivided into a great 
number of small principalities. Weakened by the imprudence 
of its princes, Silesia excited the ambition of the chivalrous 
Luxemburger, John II., King of Boheinia, who, entering the 
country at the head of his knights, forced some fourteen Sile- 
sian dukes of the Piastian dynasty to submit to his arms and 
acknowledge themseves his vassals, in 1325. Only the Dukes 
of Schweidnitz and Jauer maintained their independence, and 
their resistance was facilitated by the mountainous position 
of their territory on the Sudetian range. But they were 
unsupported by Kasimir the Great ; and when Poland thus 
wantonly renounced by solemn treaties its ancient and just 
claims to the sovereignty of that beautiful and important 
country, Charles IV., the son of John, and Emperor of Ger- 
many, was enabled to add all Silesia to the Bohemian crown, 
by an act of the empire in 1355; from that period the Scla- 
vonic Silesians became Germanized by thousands of colonists,, 
and continued thenceforth the allies, if not the vassals, of the 
empire. 

V. Grand Duchy op Moscow. 

456. Consolidation of the Russian Empire. — The vic- 
tory of the Mongols, on the Kalka, had decided the fate of 
Russia (385). For more than two centuries and a half, from 
1224 to 1480, that unhappy nation continued to be held in 
abject vassalage by the Mongols of Kaptchak, whose wild 
hordes overspread the eastern and southern provinces, and the 
plains between the Caspian and the Volga, on the banks of 
which river the Golden Horde, or imperial camp of the chans 
of the race of Batu, the nephew of Dshingis-Chan, was estab- 
lished. The farthest extent of the Mongol devastations is de- 
lineated in our map, running north, between Moscow and 
Novgorod, and westward into the heart of Lithuania. It ap- 
pears, however, that the Lithuanian Dukes soon threw off the 
yoke ; they took possession of Smolensk, the Severian Lands 
on the Desna, and Kioto on the Dnieper, and the Grand Duke 
Olgerd drove the horde beyond that river and the Doniec, 
in 1377. But other tribes of Tartars occupied parts of 
the Crimea, where they gave great trouble to the Genoese in 
their commercial colonies on the coast. At the extinction of 
the line of Batu-Chan, in 1361, disputes began to arise among 
the Mongol princes for the succession, and the fierce civil wars 
which ensued encouraged the Russians to resistance. In con- 
sequence of these disturbances, the Golden Horde became 
split into the Chanate of Astrakan, or Sarai, on the Volga, 
that of the Cyimea, that of Kasan, on the western slope of 
Mount Oural, and that of Turmi, or Ssibir, beyond the chain, 
on the east, in Siberia. Such an opportune division of power 
enabled Dimitri IV., Donskoi, in 1380, to defeat Mamai-Chan 
in the celebrated battle on the Don, in Rjaesan, from which 
the Russian hero took his name. Yet it was the invasion of 
the mighty Timur-Chan (Tamerlane), in 1389 and 1395, into 
the Kaptchak, that gave the fatal blow to the Mongol domin- 
ion. The Russians had now risen, and fearful battles were 
fought between those savage nations. Once more the Tartar 
sword prostrated Moscow in 1441, but Iwan III. the Great, 
inspired by his admirable wife, Sophia of Constantinople, at 
last succeeded in shaking off the still remaining vestiges of 
dependence on the Golden Horde, which was finally dissolved 
in 1480. Iwan then directed his arms against Kasan, which 
was made tributary, and thus strengthened, reduced the 



EIGHTH PERIOD —A. D. 1300-1450. RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 



155 



principalities of Twer, Wereja, Rostow, and Jaroslaw — the 
Republic of Viatka, Obdoria, and Ugria did homage be- 
tween 1480 and 1499. The Lithuanian princes of Severia, 
and the cities of Wiasma, Mstislaw, Smolensk, and many 
others, followed the example, and thus toward the close of the 
fifteenth century, the unity of the Russian monarchy was fully 
established. Iwan Wasiljewitch restored Russia to independ- 
ence, but he laid the foundation of that boundless despotism 
which ever since has been the scoui'ge of Russia. He extin- 
guished every spark of democratic fire in the commercial re- 
publics of Pleskoio and Novgorod, every trace of their popu- 
lar institutions ; life, honor, fortune, all depended on the 
whim of the autocrat ; the former princes and their descend- 
ants now became the subjects of the Czai' of all the Russias, 
as Iwan styled himself Those princes, together with thirty 
Boyards of the high council, formed thenceforth an hereditary 
nobility, enjoying many privileges ; they attended at court, 
and supplied the numerous oSicers around the throne ; all the 
noble families were carefully inscribed in the Radoilovnie.- 
Knigi. The citizens, even the wealthiest bankers of Novgo- 
rod, were considered as the serfs of the Czar ; while the pea- 
sants sank back into the most abject slavery, and the lot of the 
thousands of Tartar prisoners of war was still worse. The 
penal code of Iwan distinguished itself by bloody austerity 
and by its ingenuity in devising the most excruciating tor- 
ments ; diificult cases were decided by combat ; in civil law 
the decision depended entirely, on the will of the judge, and 
the Czar was the sole dispenser of life and death. The mili- 
tary system of the Russians was as barbarous as their man- 
ners ; they attacked their neighbors by surprise or stratagem, 
without any declaration of war ; the mass of the male popula- 
tion were driven to the camp ; the Russians fought on horse- 
back, they rushed to battle with furious yells, following the 
red horse-tail banners of their chiefs. Long time after other 
nations, Poles, Swedes, and even Tartars were using fire-arms, 
the Russians only wielded their sabres and long Cossack-lances, 
until toward the middle of the sixteenth century the Czars of 
Moscow at last took into their service some thousand foreign 
mercenaries, drilled to handle the arquebuss and to serve the 
cannon. The Russians mustered by hundreds of thousands, as 
they served without pay or provision ; they lived on the plun- 
der they gathered from the nations exposed to their continual 
invasions. The Czar wielded the knout, or knotty Russian whip, 
with vigor on the shoulders of his priests and Boyards — he ate 
with his servants from the same dish ; the food was coarse ; 
cookery almost unknown ; the early attempts at literature 
(304) had long been abandoned, and no spark of mental cul- 
tivation could now be discovered among the Russians ; tlieir 
clergy could not read, and they learned their praj^ers from 
hearsay. Their manners were gross, and, like the Tartars, 
their bridal festivals were attended with ceremonies of revolt- 
ing indecency — finally, we plainly discover the deteriorating 
influence which the ages of bondage had left on the manners 
and institutions of the otherwise intelligent and good-natured 
Russian people, whose middle ages do not terminate until the 
beginning of the seventeenth century, when the present 
dynasty of the Romanoffs mounted the Moscowite throne. 

457. Divisions of the Empire, Cities, and Historical 
Sites. — Moscovia, or the Empire of the Czars, consisted, in 
the year 1500, of the following principalities and teiTitories : 
I. the Grand Duchy of Moscow, bordering north on the 
territory of Novgorod, east on the chanate of Kasan, south 
on the grand duchy of Rjcesan, and west on the Lithuanian 
principalities of White and Black Russia (452). It was di- 
vided into a great number of principalities, which, during the 
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, had become united under the 



sceptre of the Czars of Moscow. In the ancient principality 
of that name, the cradle of the Russian empire, lies the im- 
mense city of MoscoAV, on the banks of the river Mo&kwa. 
The earlier capitals, Siisdal and Wladimir, had sunk into 
decay during the intestine feuds, when Yourg I. — Dolgoruki 
— (George Long-hand), in 1 156, built his new city around the 
villa of the Boyar Kutschko, with whose beautiful wife the 
Czar had fallen in love. Moscow increased rapidly, and 
was fortified with wooden walls and towers ; but it could not 
withstand the invasions of the Tartars, and was, in 1293 and 
1439, burnt and levelled to the ground. Yet it soon recov- 
ered, and rose with greater splendor. Iwan I. — Kalita — 
(the Pourse, or the Generous), erected the first stone-built 
cathedrals in Russia, and the celebrated Kreml, — Kremlin or 
Castle— which became the imperial palace of the Czars. This 
immense mass of buildings was encompassed with high and 
thick walls, protected by battlements, and flanked with gi- 
gantic towers, and became the scene of many of the frightful 
catastrophes that shook the Russian throne, until the times 
of Czar Peter the Great, who removed his court to the marshy 
banks of the Neva."^ 

458. We give here the names of the smaller principalities, 
with the year of their annexation to the Grand Duchy of 
Moscow. In the north: Wolok, 1410; Dmitroto, 1472; 
Pcres/flw/, 1302; Uglitch, 1401; .Ros^ozy, 1389-1425 ; Ja- 
roslaiv, \i&Z\ TJstjusna, \i25~\i^\ \ Kubina, 1425-1481; 
Bjelosersk, 1340-1435, and Saoserje, 1425-1481. These 
latter four territories had formerly belonged to the republic 
of Great Novgorod, and were given as appanages to princes of 
the Grand Ducal family before they became annexed to the 
crown, as the double number of years will indicate. East of 
Moscow lay: Galitsch, 1340-1450; Kostroma, 146','; the 
large principality of Susdal, with the ancient capital of that 
name, 1392; Gorodez, 1392, and the important Nischni-Nov- 
GOROD, 1392, on the Wolga; Wladimir, 1363-1389; Mescht- 
svhera and Murom, 1392, both on the banks of the Oka. 
South of Moscow lay : Tarusa, with the celebrated cities Tula 
and Kaluga, 1392; Kolomna, 1367; Kasimoio, 1380; and 
Jelez, 1450. West of Moscow were situated the following: 
Wereja, 1485, with the city Malo Jaroslaivez, where Napo- 
leon Bonaparte suffered his first defeat, on the 24th October, 
1812, and resolved upon his disastrous retreat; Moshaisk, 
1303-1472; and iSs/ieM;, 1410-1503. 

459. II. Principality and Republic of Novgorod, ex- 
tending north of Moscow to the Finnic Gulf, the White Sea, 
the Icy Ocean, and Mount Oural. It embraced on the north 
and northeast the extensive provinces of Savwolstcld and 
Udoria — the ancient Biarmeland of the Northmen (226) — 
Z^na,thehomeof theUgrians (Hungarians) in the valleys of 
the Ouralian range, and the small independent republic Bielo- 
sersk, on the White Lake. On the west lay, on the lake Ilmen, 
the celebrated Great Novgorod, the commercial republic 
(304), which, having victoriously escaped all the invasions of 
the Tartaro-Mongolian hordes, fell at last, in 1471, under the 
despotic sceptre of Iwan Wasiliwitch, after an attempt to 
throw oft the yoke in 1478; the glorious city was treated 

*'^ Moscow lias been rebuilt with great elegance since the confla- 
gra.tion in 1812. It is at present the most extensive city in Europe, 
after Constantinople, though the number of its inhabitants is only 
350,000. The Kremlin, which Napoleon in his ire attemjsted to blow 
up in vain, and the four hundred and fifty churches, monasteries, and 
nunneries of Moscow, all towering above the maze of houses and 
bazaars, with their gilt oriental cupolas, present a most magnificeni 
view, when beheld glittering in the morning sun from the high towpi 
of Czar Iwan, 



156 



EIGHTH PEEIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. RUSSIA— FEANCE. 



with the utmost barbarity by the Czar, who not only removed 
its treasures of gold, silver, and jewelry on three hundred 
carriages, but transported its most distinguished mercantile 
families to remote parts of his domains, and substituted for 
them more humble subjects from other places. By this ty- 
rannical proceeding, the flourishing commerce of Weliki-Nov- 
gorod received a shock ft-om which it never rose again. Sta- 
raja-Russa, an interesting old town, on the southern bank of 
the lake of Ilmen, with the monastery Iwerskoi, is considered 
as the early capital of Old Ruric and his Danish Varangians, 
on their first arrival in Gardarike (Russia) in 852 (226). 

460. III. The principality and Republic Pskow (Ples- 
kow), west of Novgorod, and bordering on Esthland, on the 
lake of Peipus, a small but enterprising city, which de- 
served the name of the Younger Sister of Novgorod, concil- 
iated the despotic Czar, and maintained her popular govern- 
ment until the year 1510. IV. The Republic of Wi^tka, 
southeast of Novgorod; and V., that of Per,mia, at the base 
of Mount Oural, were both conquered by Iwan in 1472-1489 ; 
the latter was treated with the same cruelty as Novgorod, 
and sunk back into insignificance. VI. The Grand Duchy of 
Twer, northwest of Moscow, with the smaller states of Chohn 
and Bjeshezk, and the important city of Twer, on the Upper 
Volga, had, under its prudent duke, Michael Borissowitsch, 
maintained its independence by alliance with the Poles. But 
Michael was, in 1485, betrayed by his own boyars, and es- 
caped the pursuing Russians only by the swiftness of his 
horse ; his duchy and treasures were then captured by the 
Czar, who united the former with the crown lands. VII. The 
Principality of Rj^san, south of Moscow, retained its princes 
until 1517, when it was incorporated into the Czar's domin- 
ions, together with the extensive Severian lands (452), Smo- 
lensk, and other conquests from Lithuania. 

VIII. The Mongol Chanate of Kasan embraced the ter- 
ritories of the Tchermessians and Mordwins (226, 303), on the 
rivers Volga and Kama, toward Mount Oural. After the 
separation of the Kasauian Tartars from the Golden Horde 
of Sarai, they became exposed to the attacks of the Russia'ns, 
and though their chans kept up a show of independence by 
paying tribute to the Czars of Moscow, they were, neverthe- 
less, unable to withstand the invasions of Iwan II. Wasilii- 
witch, who, springing mines below the walls, entered the city 
of Kasan, sword in hand, in 1552, and reduced the country as 
far as Siberia beyond the mountains. Kasan (Kozan, Oson), 
a handsome oriental city, situated on picturesque hills above 
the Volga, was the great emporium of Siberian commerce, and 
has maintained a shadow of its former importance by its 
university and other literary institutions. South of Kasan 
lie, on the Volga, the interesting ruins of Bolgari (Bolghar), 
the ancient capital of Great Bulgaria, the home of the wan- 
dering Bulgarians (195, 303). Arabic and Armenian inscrip- 
tions, Cufic coins (222), and many other remains of mediaeval 
splendor are excavated in the environs, and excite the curi- 
osity of the Russian antiquarians. The native inhabitants of 
Kasan. the Tchermessians, a mixture of Finns and Calmucks, 
are generally considered as the true descendants of the Huns 
(89) ; they are as deformed and savage as their forefathers ; 
their religion is a curious mixture of Scandinavian (Odinian) 
and Oriental idolatry, and the Russian knout has not yet 
been able to whip them into civilization. 

Such was the condition of the Russian Empire toward the 
beginning of the modern era, when, during the sixteenth cen- 
tury, the terrible Czars, with their hundred thousands of horse- 
men, inundated the lands on the Lower Wolga, Astrakhan 
(1554), Kabarda, on the Kuban, the steppes of the Cossacks, 
on the Don, as far as the Crimea, in 1577, and the chanate of 



Turan (Sibir), beyond Mount Oural, which opened to their 
ambition all the broad lands to the distant frontiers of China. 
Even the ocean put no stop to those conquests ; for the bold 
Russians, crossing Behring's Straits, subdued a considerable 
part of the western coast of North America. 

IL CENTRAL EUROPE. 

VI. The Kingdom of France, 

DURING THE WAES WITH ENGLAND, A.D. 1360-1453. 

461. Origin of the Contest. — We have already re- 
viewed the first period of the rivalry of France and England 
(386-388). The second phase of that protracted struggle, 
known as The Hundred Years'' War, begins, with the 
accession of Edward III. in England, a. d. 1327, and that of 
the family of Valois in France, in 1328, and extends through 
an alternation of frightful reverses and brilliant victories to 
the middle of the fifteenth century. The . contest of this pe- 
riod becomes more general than the former, and is carried on 
with all the forces of both the rival nations. It is no longer 
a mere question about cities and provinces, or feudal homage 
to be rendered; the entire nationality of France is now at 
stake, and the proud King of England aims at nothing less 
than the conquest of the throne of France. Edward III., a 
youth fifteen years of age, who had been proclaimed King of 
England during the captivity of his unhappy father, Edward 
II., in 1327, laid claim at once to the inheritance of Charles 
IV., the last king of the Capetian dynasty, by right of his 
mother, Isabel of France.'^''* 

Thus, then, all that brilliant family of princes, who had 
sat near their father, Philip the Handsome, at the Council of 
Vienna was extinct ! In the popular belief the curses of 
Pope Boniface and of the murdered knights templars had 
taken an awful efi'ect. Yet four daughters and Charles of 
Navarre, the son of Jane, still survived. How, then, can 
the historian hesitate in" condemning the injustice of King 
Edward's pretensions? Whether the Salique Lata -were or 
were not valid, no advantage could be gained by Edward ; 
there stood in his way not only the express decision of the 
entire French nation, but, as our genealogical table shows, Jane 
of France daughter of Louis Hutin, then the three daughters 
of Philip le Lon^, and one daughter of the last King, Charles 
le-Bel. Aware of this, Edward set up a distinction, that 
though females were excluded from succession, the same rule 
did not apply to their male issue ; and thus the British king 
philosopher pretended that though his mother Isabel could 
not herself become queen of France, she might transmit a 
title to him ! But this was not only contrary to the com- 
monest rules of inheritance, but Jane of France herself had 
a son, afterwards the famous Charles of Navarre, who stood 
one degree nearer to the crown than Edward. 

462. Divisions. — Thus the most bloody and devastating 
war of kingly ambition and national antipathy broke out in 
1339, and became the cause of great disasters and dismem- 
berments of provinces, which completely modified and changed, 
at diiferent returns, the whole political geography of France. 

21J derivation of the pretensions of EDWARD III. 
S C3 Philip III., Capei King of France. , 

Charles, Count of Valois, 
Philip VI., of Valois. 



Philip IV., le Bel, 



Louis X., 
Hutin. 



Philip V., 
le Long. 



Jane of France, three 

I daughters. 

Charles le Mauvais, 
King of Navarre. 



Charles IV., 
le Mel. 



one 
daughter. 



Isabel, 

married to 

Edioard IL, 

of England. 

Edwasd III. 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. FRANCE. 



157 



The astonishing vicissitudes of alternate defeats and victories, 
which characterized this long and obstinate contest were the 
cause of the modifications. They may be reduced to four 
distinct periods, viz. : I. From the beginning of the war, in 
1339, to the Treaty of Bretigmj, in the year 1360 ; II. from 
1360 to the death of King Charles V., in 1380; III. from 
1380, and the renewal of the war, to the appearance of Joan 
of Arc at the siege of Orleans, in 1429 ; and, finally, IV. 
from the defeat of the English before that city to their ulti- 
mate expulsion fi-om France, in 1453. Our circumscri'bed 
space will not permit us here to give any historical relation 
of events, moreover so well known ; we shall therefore confine 
ourselves to some geographical details on the political geog- 
raphy of France during the first period, and then only indicate 
briefly the most important changes which that kingdom under- 
went during the three others. 



^ I. France, at the 



TIME OF THE 

A. D. 1360. 



Treaty of Bretigny, 



463. Historical Remarks. — The period between the 
battles of Crecy and Poitiers, down to the treaty of Bretigny, 
is the most disastrous and melancholy in the annals of France. 
The misfortunes which overwhelmed that unhappy country, 
in consequence of the shameful defeat at Maupertuis, near 
Poitiers, in 1356, and the capture of its king, reduced the 
French nation to the dire necessity of giving adhesion to the 
humiliating treaty, which, by raising up an entire independent 
sovereignty within her bosom, for the advantage of an odious 
rival, became at once the source of still greater calamities, the 
terrible effects of which continued to be felt long after the 
time when the original cause had ceased to exist. We shall 
here give an account of the provinces and other possessions 
assigned to the kings of France and England according to 
that treaty. In continuation of our earlier paragraphs (229- 
232), we shall make a distinction between those provinces of 
France which directly belonged to the Royal Domain and 
the others, which were possessed by the great feudatories, 
many of whom made common cause with the English. Finally, 
we shall give a short description of the cities, castles, and 
battle-fields with which the most interesting events of this 
period are connected. 

I. Possessions of the King of France. 

464. The Royal Domains. — The provinces which formed 
the Royal household power immediately after the treaty of 
Bretigny, in 1360, were the following, in the succession from 
north to south. 1. Picardy, except the county of Fonthicu 
(232, IV.), situated at the mouth of the Somme, and which be- 
longed to England. On the northeast of Amiens, the capital 
of the province, lies the small town of Crecy, so celebrated on 
account of the brilliant victory which Edward III. gained 
there, on the 26th of August, 1346, over Philip VI., by the 
bravery of his young son, the Black Prince, and the skill of 
the English archers. 

II. The Isle of France, south of Picardy, with the 
capital Paris, on the Seine. It had already become a large 
city, and the regular residence of the Capetian kings (235). 
Two strong fortresses — Le Grand and Le Petit Chdtelet — 
on the north and south banks of the river, defended the island 
of Notre-Dame. All the suburbs were inclosed by walls, 
and incorporated with the city. Under Philip August, a new 
wall, with numerous towers, was built, comprehending a more 
extensive inclosure than those of former times, and the larger 
streets and thoroughfares were paved. Outside the walls, on 
the northeast, lay the splendid castle Le Temple, an immense 



irregular pile, the seat of the Knights Templars, which, after 
the destruction of that Order, by Philip IV., in 1307, became 
the royal residence of the French monarchs. Other kings 
resided at the Chateau de Vincennes, east of Paris. On 
Montmartre stood an abbey, and all the environs were covered 
with vineyards. Paris possessed, at that time, two national 
colleges and three hospitals ,• several large market-places 
opened from the centre ; aqueducts led into the city, and 
some fine fountains were erected. The space inclosed by the 
walls of Philip August was in many parts, particularly south 
of the Seine, unoccupied or covered with gardens and vine- 
yards ; but the vacancies soon became filled up with the huge 
monasteries, churches, and schools founded by Saint Louis, 
his grandson, and numerous palaces erected by succeeding 
princes; so that, in the reign of John II. (a. d. 1350-1356), 
Paris had outgrown its limits, and many edifices had been 
erected without the walls. In apprehension of an attack from 
the English after the battle of Poitiers, new walls were raised 
all along the north side of the river, comprehending a yet 
larger space than those of Philip August. _ The population of 
Paris at that time was about 150,000 souls. The state of 
morals was extremely bad ; and the clergy, the monks, and 
nuns shared in the general corruption. The police was 
wretched ; nor did there exist a regular municipal govern- 
ment. The provost of the traders — L.e prevot des mar- 
chands — was a person of considerable importance. All the 
merchants formed a brotherhood — Confrerie — which was 
called la Hanse Parisieiine ; it enjoyed several privileges and 
a limited judicial authority, but came gradually to occupy the 
place of a municipal body. Such was still the condition of 
Paris when it fell into the power of the English, in 1420. 

III. The Orleanais, south of the Isle of France. The 
capital was Of^leans, a strongly fortified city on the Loire. 
Bretigny, a village six miles southeast of Chartres, where, on 
the 1st of May, 1360, Edward and the Dauphin signed the 
notorious treaty, which at once put England in the full pos- 
session of some of the finest provinces of France : Aquitaine, 
Calais, with the counties of Ponthieu, Guines, and the vis- 
county of Montreuil, and obliged the prisoner King besides to 
pay the enormous sum of three millions of gold crowns for his 
ransom ! 

465. IV. The duchy of Normandy (236, XVI.) had been 
given by King John as an appanage to his eldest prince, who 
himself became king in 1364, under the name of Charles V. 
Three years before, Normandy had been reunited to the crown 
by an edict of King John. V. Maine, and VI. Anjou (238, 
XXII., XXIIL), had both, like Normandy, been united to the 
royal domains on the accession of John, in 1350. But he gave 
them, in 1356, in appanage to his second son, together with 
the barony of Chateaudu-Loir, on the frontier of Maine and 
■'■Touraine, and the seigneury Chantoceaux, on that of Anjou 
and of Brittany. 

VII. Touraine, east of Anjou ; capital. Tours, the old 
city on the Loire. At the very time of the ratification of the 
treaty of Bretigny, it was given as appanage, with the title of 
duchy, to the fourth son of John. Philip the Bold, from whom 
the king took it back in 1363, when he gave him in exchange 
the duchy of Burgundy (239, 388). VIII. Berri, east of 
Touraine, with the capital Bourges, between the Loire and 
the Cher, was given in appanage by King John to his third 
son, called John, like himself, with the title of duchy. 

IX. Dauphine, on the left bank of the Rhone, was already 
united to the crown since 1343, by the cession of Humbert 
II., the last Dauphin of Vienne, to Philip of Orleans, the 
younger son of Philip of Valois (386). The Emperor Charles 
IV., on whom Dauphine depended as a fief of the Germai! 



158 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. FRANCE. 



empire, confirmed this transaction in 1357. Vienne, on the 
Rhone, and Grenoble on the Isere, were then the principal 
cities of Dauphine— and, finally, X. The seigneury of Mont- 
PELUER (243, LII.) which had been sold to the King of 
France, in 1349, by King Jayme II. of Mayorca. 

466. Provinces Possessed by the Great Feudatories. 
— These provinces, several of which King John united to the 
crown, in compensation for the loss that France had sustained 

in the treaty of Bretigny, were the following : 

467. I. The county of Flanders (232, 1.), north of France. 
This industrious and closely inhabited county presented the 
spectacle of a continuous city. But the inhabitants, mostly 
manufacturers and mechanics, were proud of their wealth and 
industry; they spurned all obedience to their counts, and 
when the French took possession of the country, they rose in 
bloody rebellion against Philip le Bel, in 1302-1305, and 
united with Edward III., in 1338, under their leader, the 
brewer Jacques van Artevelde, of Ghent. Brugge (Bruges), 
in a fertile and highly cultivated country, intersected with 
canals, was the populous capital of the province. There " the 
prodigious ant-hills and formidable wasp-nests of Flanders" 
were put in motion on the 21st of March, 1302. The 
burgesses, mechanics, monks, and women, rushed upon the 
French, who were ruthlessly slaughtered ; the massacre con- 
tinued for three days, and 1200 knights and 200 sergeants 
and archers fell victims to the popular fui-y. Kortryck (Cour- 
tray), south of Brugge, where the tumultuous army of Flem- 
ish republicans, with their gutentags (heavy stakes, shod with 
iron), defeated the feudal army of France, on the 11th of 
July, 1302. Thousands of French nobles found their death 
in the ditches, and this glorious feat of the Flemings was 
called the battle of the spurs, because the victors found more 
than four thousand gilded spvirs upon the field. All the envi- 
rons of Courtray are famous in history for the great number 
of battles fought there. At Mans en Puelle, Philip le Bel 
took revenge on the Flemings, defeating them with great loss, 
in 1304. Cassel, west of Mons, where the Flemings were 
again routed in 1328. Another severe defeat they suffered by 
Charles VI. of France, at Rosbecqve, west of Cassel, in 1382. 
Sluys, on the sea-coast, north of Brugge. In the harbor of 
this town the war between the English and French was opened 
in 1340, by abloody naval battle, in which the latter lost their 
entire fleet of a hundred vessels, and thirty thousand men. 
The moral effect of this naval disaster was fatal to the 
French : they lost all heart at sea, and the straits remained 
open to the English for centuries. At Bovines, east of Cassel, 
the French chivalry of Philip August gave, in 1216, a distin- 
guished proof of their superiority over the Germans, in one 
of the most brilliant battles of the middle ages, defeating the 
Emperor Otho IV., the Welf, and pursuing the Germans back 
into Lorraine. 

Ghent (Gand), on the Scheldt, the ancient capital of Flan- 
ders, which, in the time of Charles V., surpassed Paris in ex- 
tent. The small islands between the rivers Scheldt, Lys, 
Moere, and Lieve, on which the city is built, were united by 
more than three hundred bridges. Its magnificent cathedrals 
and public buildings are still speaking monuments of its 
wealth and importance during the days of independence in the 
middle ages. Ghent was the native city of the brewer Arte- 
velde, who swayed all Flanders with the power of a sovereign. 
The Count of Flanders possessed besides, in France, with the 
title of ^azV, the counties of Rethel (234, VIII.) and Ne- 
VERS (239, XXX.), with the barony of Donzi. The county 
of Hainaut, east of Flanders, with the capital of Valenciennes. 
The county of Cambrai. south of Hainaut, belonged to the 



Bishop of Cambrai, to whom it had been given by King 
Henry II., in the year 1007. 

468. II. The duchy of Burgundy (239, XXVIII.) compre- 
hended, besides the counties of Boulogne (232, III.) and Ar- 
tois, on the north of Picardy — that of Auverg?7e (240, 
XXXIIL), southwest of Burgundy. On the battle-field of 
Poitiers, John the Good, surrovmded by enemies, had been 
bravely defended by bis youngest son, Philip the Bold. From 
tenderness for this son, he gave him Burgundy, and when Philip 
afterwards married Margaret of Flanders, he united all the Bur- 
gundian lands. This powerful state, under the ambitious and 
warlike dukes of the Second Burgundian dynasty, brought 
the greatest disasters on France by their alliance with the kings 
of England. Dijon, on the Ouche and the Siizon, which 
unite in the city, stands in the middle of a delightful and 
highly cultivated plain, terminated with verdant hills, all 
covered with the famous vineyards of Burgundy. The ancient 
palace of the dukes adorns the great square, and the ramparts 
that surround the city are shaded by lofty trees. The cathe- 
dral, St. Michael, and other churches, are built in the boldest 
Gothic architecture. Dijon is one of those fine old cities that 
carry the traveller at once among the monuments and scenery 
of the middle ages. Clermont, at the base of the Puy de 
Dome, was the capital of Auvergne, and the lively, manufac- 
turing Arras that of Artois. The eastern part of Old Bur- 
gundy, beyond the Saone, was called the Free County 
(Franche Comte), with Besattgoit, on the river Doubs, for its 
capital. It belonged to the Germanic empire, together with 
Lorraine, Alsace, on the Rhine, and Bresse and Bugey, on 
the Saone and Rhone — the latter of these was already held 
by the counts of Savoy (413). 

III. The counties of Champaign (234, X.) and of IV. Bkie 
(west on the Seine), were united with the crown lands at the 
same time as the duchy of Burgundy. Troyes was the capi- 
tal, where the marrirge between Henry V. of England, and 
Catherine of France, the daughter af Charles VI., was cele- 
brated on 21st May, 1420. Rheims, so rich in ancient 
buildings and historical recollections, was, in vain, besieged 
by Edward III. in 1359, who intended there to be crowned 
King of France. 

469. V. The Bourbonnais, the ancient lordship of the 
Bourbon family (238, XXVII.), was erected into a dukedom 
and peerage by Charles le Bel, in 1327. The Duke Louis 
the Good, who owned it at the time we speak of, possessed 
besides the county of Clermont, in Beauvaisis, which, in 
1358, was enlarged by the liberality of the Dauphin Charles, 
then regent of the kingdom, in order to compensate the old 
duke for the fearful ravages which the English bands com- 
mitted throughout the country. Moulins, on the river AUier, 
became at that time the capital of the Dukes of Bom^bon. 

VI. The county of La Marche, southwest of Bourbon- 
nais, was erected into a peerage by Philip le Long, in 1316, 
and became later, in 1342, the inheritance of the younger 
branch of the Bourbon family. The county of Ponthieu, 
which Philip IV. of Valois had confiscated on the English 
and given to the Duke of Bourbon, was, at the treaty of 
Bretigny, restored to England. 

VII. The county of Lyonnais and of Forez, southeast 
of Bourbonnais, and separated from Auvergne by the high 
range of the Cevennes. Capital cities were Lyons, on the 
union of the Saone and Rhone, and Montbrison southwest, in 
the upper valley of the Loire. J^yon^ formed an archbishopric 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. FRANCE. 



159 



which depended on the German Empire. Frederic Barba- 
rossa gave that prelate the vicariate of the empire, with all 
the regalian rights over the city. Yet the industrious and 
wealthy citizens of Lyons soon got into difficulties with their 
ecclesiastical prince ; they called in the French king, who, 
after many troubles with Pope Boniface VIII. cut the matter 
short by occupying Lyons and its territory with his army, 
in 1311. Germany, as usual, did not stir, and lost thus one 
of her most important possessions. The Count of Lyonnais 
perished, in 1361, together with the Constable Jacob of Bour- 
bon, in the sanguinary battle they fought against the robber 
hordes ft-om the English war, who called themselves the 
Grand Company of Sluggards — les Tard-venus. The battle 
took place at Brignais, some miles southwest of Lyons. 

470. VIII. The county of Todlouse (243) embraced at 
that period all Languedoc^ from the banks of the Garonne, 
eastward, to the Rhone. The capital was the splendid Tou- 
louse, on the Garonne. This province, which had belonged 
to France since the year 1224, was not united to the Crown 
lands until 1361, together with Burgundy and Champaign. 

IX. The duchy of Bretagne (Brittany, 237, XX.), east 
of Maine and Anjou, became, during the period we are de- 
lineating, the scene of one of the most interesting episodes 
of the English wars. On the death of John III., Duke of 
Brittany, in 1341, John of Montfort and Charles of Blois 
both claimed the succession to the duchy.^'' Charles de Blois 
claimed in right of his wife, Joan of Penthievre, the lawful 
heiress, and was supported by France. John of Montfort, 
however, took possession of the duchy, and sought protection 
from King Edward III. of England ; thus the singular case 
occurred, that the latter, who claimed the crown of France 
through a/ewTa/e, supported Montfort against a female claim; 
while Philip VI. of France, whose right rested upon the ex- 
clusion of females from the succession, aided a female in her 
claim to the ducal coronet of Brittany. The Breton war from 
1341-1365 presents a series of remarkable events. Brittany 
became the Troy of the fourteenth century ; kings, barons, 
and knights-errant flocked to the country; the names of Beau- 
manoir, of Clisson, of Duguesclln, threw a brilliancy over the 
chivalrous deeds performed there ; nor were the women less 
distinguished than the men, and the three heroines, Joan of 
Montfort, Joan of Penthievre, and the widow of Clisson, by 
their courage, fortitude, and conjugal affection, excited the 
highest admiration in an age of poetry and romance. The 
treaty of Gu^rande, in 1365, secured the duchy of Brittany 
to the house of Montfort. Nantes, on the right bank of the 
Loire, was the capital of Brittany. It was invested, in 1341, 
by the army of Charles of Blois, who, launching into the city 
the heads of thirty Breton knights of the Montfort party, so 
terrified the townsmen that they surrendered the city and 
John of Montfort, who was carried a prisoner to Paris. 
Hennebon, on the river Blavet, was heroically defended 
by the Countess of Montfort against all the forces of Charles 
of Blois, until the arrival of the English fleet."^ Vannes, 

'215 Arlhur 11, 
Duke of Brittany, 
tl312. 



First wife, 
Mary, heiress of 
the Viscount of Limoges. 



Second wife, 
Tolnide of Dreux, 
heiress of Montfort. 



J.ihn TIT. 

Duke of Brittanv. 

t ISil. 



Ouy de Penthievre, 



JoAJi, lawful heiress 

of Brittany, married to 

Charlen of Chatillon and 

Blois, killed at Auray, 

VMi. 



John IV. of Montfort, 

the Pretender, 1 1845, 

married with the celebrated 

Joan of Flanders, Countess of 

Montfort. 



John V. tl399. 



John of Brittany, 
Count of Penthievre. 



"'' Froissart tells us that when the brave old Sir Walter Manny, 



near the western gulf of Morbihan, was the ancient capital 
of Armorica (70, XL), R.ennes, on the Vilaine, in the in- 
terior, the residence of the Dukes of Brittany, while their 
tombs were deposited in the sepulchral vaults of Ploermcl, 
in the west. The oak of the Tliirty stands in the plain be- 
tween Ploermel and Josselin, where, on the 27th March, 1351, 
thirty Breton knights and squires fought in a deadly tourna- 
ment with a similar number of English. After extraordinary 
feats of bravery, the Bretons gained the day, by one of their 
knights breaking, on horseback, the ranks of the English, the 
greater part of whom were killed. All Brittany rejoiced. 
La Roche-Derien, north, near Treguier, where, in 1347, 
Charles of Blois was surprised and taken prisoner by the 
widow of Clisson, at the head of a small body of English 
knights. His wife, Joan of Penthievre, sustained his cause 
with a valor equal to that of the Countess of Montfort, and 
the hatred of the Bretons for the" English induced many of 
them to embrace her party. Auray, southeast of Hennebon, 
on the coast of Morbihan, where, in 1364, the decisive battle 
was fought, in which the young Count of Montfort and Olivier 
of Clisson overtlirew the army of Charles de Blois, who him- 
self fell in the struggle. Guesclin, near Saint Malo, on the 
northern coast, the paternal castle of the celebrated knight 
and general, Bertrand du Guesclin, who so quickly drove the 
English out of their French conquests. 

II. Possessions of the King of England. 

471. Provinces and Towns avhich they Contained. — 
The duchy of Aquitaine was, in the treaty of Bretigny, 
erected into an independent sovereignty in favor of the King 
of England. This duchy consisted of Guye7ine and Gas- 
cogne, which the predecessors of Edward III. had held as fiefs 
of the French crown, and of which Bordeaux and Aiidt were 
the capitals. To this sovereignty were annexed the following 
provinces : 

472. The town, castle, and county of Poitiers (240, 
XXXIX.) and of all Poitou, together with the fiefs of 
Thoiiars and the district of Belleville, in the same province. 
The refusal of King John the Good to surrender the latter to 
the English gave cause to prolonged contestations. The 
woody ridge of Maupertuis, east of Poitiers, was the battle- 
field, where, on the 19th September, 1356, the English archers, 
almost without opposition, destroyed the brilliant chivalry of 
France, and King John surrendered himself a prisoner to the 
Black Prince. 

The city and castle of Xainctes (Saintes) and all Saint- 
ONGE (241), together with Aunix, and the important maritime 
city of Rochelle, its port and fortress. 

The city and castle of Angolesme (Angouleme), on the 
Charente, and the county of Angolesmois (Angoumois) (240, 
XXXVIIL), on the east of Saintonge. 

The city and castle of Limoges, on the Vienne, and the 
whole of LiMosiN, on the southeast of Angoumois. 

473. The city, castle, and county of Pierregort (le Peri- 
gord) (240, XXXVIL), southeast of Limosin, and the entire 
province of Pierreguys (Perigueux), on the river Isle. 

The city and castle of Caours (Cahors), on the river Lot, 
and the district of Caoukcin (Querci, 243), on the southeast 
of Perigord. 

after the defeat of the besiegers, entered the gate of Hennebon, the 
noble Countess descended from the castle to welcome her deliverers, 
"she kissed Sir AV alter and all his companions, one after the other, two 
or three times, and one might well say that she was a valiant and 
splendid lady." 



160 



EIUHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. FRANCE. 



The city and ca&tle of Rodeis (Rliodez), near the Avey- 
ron, and the district of Rovergue (243, LI.), southeast of 

Querci. 

The city and castle of Agen, on the Garonne, and the dis- 
trict of Agenois, in tlie centre of Guycnne. 

The county of G-aure, a dismembered part of the south- 
eastern Armagnac, on the River Gers, with the small town of 
Florence for its capital. 

The city, castle, and district of Tarbes, on the Adour, 
and the coimty of Bigorre (242, XL VIII.), in which this 
town is situated. The county extends into the valleys of the 
Pyrenees. 

All those possessions belonged to the French crown, and 
could be surrendered to the English king as allodial property, 
while the many noblemen, whose domains lay within the 
limits fixed by the treaty, could only be ordered to do homage 
to the King of England ; these were, besides the Viscount of 
Limoges, and the Count of Ferigord, I. The Count of Ar- 
magnac, a branch of whom held the county of Gaure ; II., the 
Count of Isle Jourdain, east of Armagnac ; III., the Count 
of Foix. These lords were mentioned in the treaty, because 
they were almost entirely independent of the French crown, 
and remained sword in hand, defending their liberty against 
the English kings. The viscounty of Bearn and the 
county of Comminges' (242, XL VII., XLIX.) are not men- 
tioned in the treaty, but they belonged to the surrendered pro- 
vinces since they formed part of Gascogne. 

474. Besides these provinces, situated on the southwest 
of France, the King of England obtained, likewise, on the 
coast of the British Channel and the Straits of Calais, two dis- 
tricts of no great extent, but in a high degree important, on 
account of their position opposite the shores of England. 
They were : 

I. The duchy of Ponthieu (232, IV.), together with Mon- 
treuil and its territory, at the mouth of the rivers Sonime, 
Authie., and Canche, where the French used to fit out their 
fleets for their intended naval expeditions against England. 

II. The small district of Calais, with the seigneury of 
Sangatte, and the city and castle of Calais, lately so cele- 
brated by its protracted siege and the patriotic devotion of 
Eustache de Saint Pierre, in 1347, who brought the keys of 
the city to the haughty conqueror. Farther : the towns and 
castles of Coulogne, Hames, Wale (Valdun), Merch (Marc), 
northeast of Coulogne, and Oye — and the city, castle, and 
county of Guines (232, II.), south of Calais. The county of 
Ponthieu was separated from the district of Calais by the 
county of Boulogne. The treaty of Bretigny conferred more- 
over on the English, the islands lying off the coast of the ceded 
provinces, viz., NoirmoutAer and Dieu belonging to Poitou ; 
Re to Aunis, and Oleron to Saintonge. 

475. The victorious English army had in the year 1360, 
possession of nearly all the central provinces of France ; of 
Champaign, Brie, Nivernais, Auxerrois, Bourgogne, Or- 
leanais, Isle de France, Ferche, le Fays Chartrain, Drouais 
(county of Dreux), Berry, Bourhonnais, the counties of Macon 
and Lyon, Aiivergnc, Touraine, Normandy, Anjou, and 
Maine! — eighty-two cities and fortresses were occupied by 
them ; but on the faithful execution of the treaty, they began 
to march oif, and all the provinces were successively given 
back to King John. 

^ II. France at the Death of Charles V., a. d. 1380. 

476. English Possessions in France. — The Gascon Lords 
were too proud to do homage to the Prince of Wales. They 



all conspired against the English, and the Counts of Armag- 
nac, Ferigord, and Coinminges, the Lord of Albret, and 
many other feudatories of JJpper Gascogne, were the first to 
draw the sword So did the clergy; and sixty towns, burghs 
or castles, expelled the English. Popular preachers advo- 
cated the cause of the pious Charles V. from their pulpits, and 
all the cities which opened their gates to their native king, ob- 
tained confirmation and increase of their privileges. The 
war had already broken out in Fonthieu,m 1368, where Abbe- 
ville joyfully received the French army ; in a week they re- 
conquered the whole province. Quercy (473) revolted in 
1369 ; Angoumois and Saintonge (472) were taken with steel 
gauntlets by Du Guesclin, in 1372. Limosin, Rovergue, and 
Aunis followed the example, and La Rochelle obtained impor- 
tant privileges. Thouars surrendered, and the signal defeat 
of the English at Chizey, southeast of Niort, caused the joy- 
ful submission of all Foitou. Brittany was still in their pos- 
session ; but the old Du Guesclin, in 1373, drove them into 
Brest, and a few other places of retreat on the coast. Still 
they besieged Nantes, which was bravely defended by the 
Breton Barons. In 1374 the English raised the siege, and 
left the province, whose duke then submitted to the King of 
France. After a truce of two years, signed at Bruges, ui 
Flanders, 1375, the war broke out again, and continued dur- 
ing the lifetime of Charles V. ; the French took some towns 
and castles in the north, and blockaded the English garrisons 
in Guines and Ccdais, the only places that remained to them 
in that part of France. 

477. Yet the English still occupied in the west, the strong 
maritime cities of Cherburg, Brest, Mortagne, and Bor- 
deaux, on the Gironde, together with Bayonne, at the mouth 
of the Adour, and some castles in Guyenne and Gascogne. 

^ III. France at the Arrival of Jeanne d'Arc, to the 
Siege of Orleans, a. d. 1429. 

478. Historical Remarks. — The insanity of King Charles 
VI., the dissatisfaction and revolts excited in the provinces by 
the hateful conduct of the king's uncles ; the civil feuds be- 
tween Burgundians and Armagnacs, and the foul murders of 
the Dukes of Orleans and of Burgundy, had left France split 
into parties, and without protection against the ambitious 
plans of the young King Henry V. of England, Taking ad- 
vantage of the miserable condition of France, he boldly de- 
manded the restitution of all the provinces ceded to England 
by the treaty of Bretigny. Soon after, in 1415, his fleet enter- 
ed the mouth of the Seine, and disembarked a powerful army 
on the shore of Harjleur. That wealthy and commercial city 
of Normandy surrendered five weeks afterwards, while the 
royal government in Paris did nothing to save it. Yet sick- 
ness spread among the English troops, thousands were carried 
ofi" ; the country around remained hostile : the aspect of afl'airs 
thus changing, Henry resolved, by rapid marches, to gain Ca- 
lais. The French had, in the mean time, gathered their 
strength. The nobility, full of enthusiasm, appeared in the 
field, and the Constable of France, with sixty thousand bril- 
liant troops, mostly steel-clad cavalry, pursued the ten thou- 
sand English on their hurried retreat through Picardy. After 
a most distressing march. King Henry succeeded in crossing 
the river Somme, at Bethencourt, at a short distance above 
Feronne, but while pressing on northward to Calais, he meets 
the whole French army at Agincourt, cutting ofi" his retreat ; 
only a battle can save the English, and they boldly prepare for 
the struggle. This astonishing battle, or rather slaughter, 
takes place on the 24th of October, 1415, on a swampy ground 
between forests, and terminates with the total defeat and rout 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. FRANCE. 



161 



of the French army. More than ten thousand French, almost 
all of generous blood, covered the battle-field. Among the 
prisoners made were the Dukes of Orleans and of Bourbon, 
the Counts of Eu, Vendome, Richmont, the Marshal of Bou- 
cicaut, and hundreds of Barons — an entire French colony 
transported into England. This shameful defeat, and the 
atrocious murder of the Duke of Burgundy on the bridge of 
Montereau, four years afterwards, became a source of the 
frightful disasters which overwhelmed that unhappy country 
during the following years. Henry enters Paris triumphantly, 
marries Catherine of Valois, is declared heir to the kingdom, 
while the Dauphin, driven south across the Loire, is scornfully 
called the King of Bourges. Yet we shall now see that he 
was not yet brought to such a point of despair as to deserve 
that title. 

I. Provinces Obeying the Authority of the Dauphin as 
King Charles VII. 

479. Their Name and Situation. — At the moment when 
the devoted virgin, Joan of Arc, by her sudden appearance 
and words of hope, began to revive the courage and confidence 
of the French, in 1428, King Charles VII. possessed still the 
greater part of the provinces situated south of the Loire, viz. : 
TouRAiNE, which he had obtained as appanage during the life- 
time of his father, when he was still only Count of Ponthieu. 
Chinon, a fine castle, southeast of Tours, the old capital of 
the province, on the river Vienne, was then the residence of 
the fugitive monarch, and there, surrounded by his court, he 
received Joan of Arc. Loches, southeast of the river Indre, 
was the birth-place of the beautiful Agnes Sorel. 

Orleanais (464), north of the Loire, was then invaded by 
the English — who were actively engaged in the siege of the 
city of Orleans, when Joan of Arc arrived for its relief Ru- 
vray Saint Denis, north of Orleans, where the French suf- 
fered the severe defeat by Sir John Falstaff, called the Bat- 
tle of the Herrings}^'' Patay, a few miles northwest of the 
former, where Talbot and Falstafi" were borne down at the 
lance's point of the French chevaliers, and the former made 
prisoner ; the bodies of two thousand English strewed the 
plain. The maid of Orleans shed tears at the sight. 

480. Berri (465), south of Orleanais, had been given 
to Charles VII., together with Poitou, when he, in 1417, 
inherited the title of Dauphin. Bourges, his capital, was 
scoffingly called that of the pigmy kingdom of Charles VII. 

Poitou, west of Berri, belonged, as we said, to the appa- 
nage which Charles VII. had received as Dauphin ; he united 
it with the crown, from which it was never separated after- 
wards. This province had remained like the preceding, ex- 
empted from the misfortunes of the war ; such was likewise 
the case with La Marche, Limosin, Aunis, and Saintonge. 

The powerful Count of Foix, who had united Bearn and 
BiGORRE to his own inheritance, demanded, in 1424, as the 
prize of his allegiance to King Charles VII., the government 
of Languedoc. The Count of La Marche, James of Bour- 
bon, held possession of that province, but was found willing 

"'The battle was fought during Lent, 1429, and took its name from 
the great transport of wagons, with provisions, particularly barrels 
with herrings — an indispensable provision for lent — which the brave 
Falstaff carried along with his army to reinforce the English before 
Orleans. Yet on the road he was attacked by the impetuous La Hire, 
the Scotch auxiliaries, and the army of the Count of Clermont. Afier 
a brilliant defence behind the herring barrels, the English charged 
and defeated the French, but the barrels having burst open by the 
shots and knocks, the field seemed strewed with herrings rather than 
corpses, and the French, satirical as usual, called the fight la joiirnee 
il':i harengs. 

21 



to resign it the next year, reserving for himself only the 
county of Castres. The viscounty of Narbonne likewise 
passed into the house of Foix in 1447, having been bought by 
Count Gaston IV. 

48 1 . Guienne, with the exception of Bordeaux and its en- 
virons — the Bordelais — which were occupied by the English, 
was, like Gascogne, governed by the same Count of Foix and by 
his brother, the Count of Comminges, with an almost absolute 
independence ; both brothers kept up a kind of neutrality to- 
wards their neighbors, the English. 

The Counts of Armagnac possessed the greater part of 
Gascogne, with almost perfect independence, and arrogantly 
styled themselves " by grace of God,'''' yet thBy still recog- 
nized the authority of the king. Their lands lay together in 
two gi-oups, in Rovergue, on the Cevennes, and in Gascogne, 
on the Pyrenees. There, too, the Count of Astarac (242, 
XLVI.), the chief of an ancient family on the east of the Ar- 
magnac .territories, had always shown himself as a faithful 
vassal of the French kings. This was likewise the case with 
the Lord of Albret (242, XLIII.), who, besides his viscounty 
in the Landes (Heathes) of Gascogne, possessed the viscounty 
of Tartas and the county of Dreux, in Normandy, then occu- 
pied by the English ; as a compensation he received the 
county of Gaure, a dismembered portion of Fezenzac."^ 

482. Bourbonnais, Auvergne, Beaujolais, and Lyon- 
NAis, all appertaining to the Duke of Bourbon, the prisoner 
of the English at the battle of Agincourt, were governed by 
his son, the Count of Clermont, who, though he kept up a 
show of neutrality between the contending parties, had yet 
fought in the ranks of the French at the battle of Herrings 
(479). 

483. Dauphine, between the Rhone and the Alps. It was 
to this quiet and happy region that Charles and Agnes Sorel 
intended to flee, in order to escape the bloody scenes of the 
war in which the Dauphin was then engaged with the English. 
Yet the enthusiastic reception of Joan of Arc, and her first 
brilliant victory, soon brought the French prince back to 
his duty. 

II. Provinces Conquered by the English. 

484. These Provinces extended from the Somme to the 
Loire, and were the following : 

I. Isle de France, on both the banks of the Seine. Pa- 
ris, its capital, fell into the power of the English in 1420, and 
was then in such a state of decay, in consequence of the ter- 
rible civil war of the Armagnac and Burgundian parties, 
that twenty thousand buildings were ruined and abandoned. 
The English government and army kept Paris for sixteen 
years, and it was not until 1 436, after the separation of Bur- 
gundy from the alliance with England, that the last bodies of 
men-at-arms of that country left the Bastile and the Chatelets, 
and under the hootings and maddening cries of the Parisian 
people, left the city and retired to the north, Montcrcau, 
south of Paris. Here was perpetrated one of the most awful 
crimes during the civil wars of unhappy France : the massacre 
of the Duke of Burgundy, John the Dauntless, during his in- 
terview with the Dauphin on the bridge over the river Aube. 
on the lOth September, 1419 — Meaux, on the Marne, was the 
refuge of the Duchesses of Orleans and Normandy and num 
bers of noble ladies, demoiselles and children, during the rebel 
lion of the peasantry — the Jacquerie — ^who had risen against 

'*''' Roussillon had belonged to the crown of Aragon since 1172, and 
is, therefore, not mentioned here. 



IG2 



EIGHTH PEKIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. FRANCE. 



the nobles and were demolishing the castles in 1358. In the 
market-place of Meaux, the poor ladies were besieged by the 
infuriated peasants, in imminent danger of suffering outrage 
and murder — when most unexpectedly the Count of Foix and 
the Captal of Buch, with a band of knights threw themselves 
headlong among the boors, and after a terrific slaughter drove 
them into the river and saved the honor and the life of the 
fair ones. Meaux was a brave and faithful city ; it sent its 
bailiff at the head of its civic bands to the battle-field of 
Agincourt, where they were scornfully abandoned by the 
chivalry and perished miserably by the arrows and battle-axes 
of the English yeomanry. Senlis, north of Paris, Saint 
Qiientin in Vermandois, and Caen in Normandy, sent like- 
wise their bailiffs and national guards to Agincourt and shared 
the fate of the rest. Saint Denis, the sanctuary of French 
Royalty, witnessed in 1422 the funeral pomp of Charles VI. 
and the proclamation and ceremonious inauguration of Henry 
VI. as King of France and England. 

II. Normandy was totally conquered and occupied by the 
English after the battle of Agincourt. Rouen was captured 
by Henry V. in 1419 after a fearful siege, during which fifty 
thousand helpless citizens, old men, women and children, per- 
ished miserably in the fosse between the English camp and 
the walls of the city, from which they had been expelled as 
unable to bear arms. On the market-place of Rouen the 
innocent Maid of Orleans, the victim of the bigotry and ha- 
tred of the English prelates, suffered a cruel death on 30th 
of May, 1431.-" 

III. Champagne, with La Brie, east of the Isle de France, 
had long been bravely defended by La Hire, until he was 
compelled to evacuate them in 1424. In Troves, the capital 
of this province, the treaty between Henry V. and the imbe- 
cile Charles VI. had been signed in 1420, by which the Dau- 
phin was declared unworthy of the crown, and France deliv- 
ered over to the King of England. 

IV. PicARDY was partly possessed by the Duke of Bur- 
gundy and partly by the English ; the latter held the coun- 
ties of PoNTHiEu and Boulogne with the Calesis. Com- 
piegne, on the Oise, into which the Maid of Orleans had 
thrown herself for its defence, and where, during a sortie on 
the 23d May, 1430, she was dastardly abandoned by the 
French knights, captured by the Burgundian traitors and sold 
to her mortal enemies the English. 

V. Bordelais, or the city of Bordeaux, with its envi- 
rons, had remained in the possession of the English ever since 

"" When Jeanne d'Arc set foot on the top of the pile and she beheld 
the great city below, the motionless, silent crowd of the thousands fill- 
ing the square and every roof around, she could not refrain from ex- 
claiming " Ah Rouen, Rouen, much do I fear you will suffer from my 
death I" She, who had saved the people and whom both king and peo- 
ple now deserted, gave voice to no other sentiment, when dying, than 
that of compassion for them. Meanwhile the flames rose. . . . When 
they first seized her the unhappy maiden shrieked for holy water — but 
soon recovering, she called only on God, on her angels and her saints. 
" Yes, my voices were from Ood, my vision has not deceived me." In the 
midst of the flames she called on her Saviour ... at last her head 
sunk on her bosom, the smoke enveloped her, and when it disappeared 
her blackened body was seen hanging over the chain with which she 
was fastened to the stake. Lamentations and cries re-echoed through 
the square ; only the English men-at-arms, on horseback, surrounding 
the pile laughed, or attempted to laugh, at the torments of the witch. 
Some, however, had better feelings, and one of the English chancellors 
present said aloud on returning from the dismal scene, " We are lost : 
we have burnt a saint— the retribution will be fearful ! " and that Eng- 
lishman spoke a true word. 



the first conquest ; they held likewise a number of castles and 
strongholds in Guyenne and Gascogne. 

III. Provinces in Alliance with the English. 

485. These consisted principally in the extensive states of 
the Duke Philip-le-Bon, of Burgundy, who in order to take 
revenge on the murderers of his father had thrown himself 
into the English alliance. The possessions of this powerful 
feudatory embraced the two Burgundies, the duchy and the 
free county (Franche Comte), the latter a fief of the German 
Empire. The county of Macon (239, XXXIL), included 
within the duchy, had, like Paris and so many other cities, 
sent its bravest citizens with their bailiff and town-banner to 
the battle at Agincourt, where they all perished miserably with 
the other foot-soldiers. 

The counties of Flanders and Artois, and the Marqui- 
sate of Namur on the east. 

The counties of Rethel (consisting of the northern part 
of Champagne), Etampes, Nevers with the barony of DoNsa, 
likewise situated in Nivernais, belonged since the division 
made in 1401 by Philip the Bold and his wife Margaret to the 
younger branch of the Burgundian dynasty. The duke had, 
moreover, since 1427, pretensions to the counties of Mainaut, 
Holland, Zealand, and Fricsland, on the coasts of the North 
Sea. 

IV. Neutral Provinces. 

486. Several feudatories attempted to escape the devasta- 
tion of the war, by observing a strict neutrality between 
France and England during the contest. These provinces 
were the following. Brittany (Bretagne), whose Duke John 
V. (470) although a friend and ally of the English, remained 
neutral while the war was raging throughout France. 

Anjou, Maine, Provence and the Barrois, or Duchy of 
Bar, which latter consisted of the western portion of Lorraine. 
All the eastern parts of that country belonged still to the Ger- 
manic Empire ; but Bar soon fell to the all-powerful house of 
Anjou, already in possession of the three first mentioned 
provinces. The beautiful woodlands on the frontiers of 
Lorraine had not been exempted from partial excursions of 
English and Burgundian bands. Bar-le Due, on the Onain, 
was the capital. On the banks of the Mouse lay the small 
village of Domroni belonging to the Diocese of Toid, in 
which the brave and beautiful Jeanne d'Arc was born in the 
year 1409, the third daughter of a laborer, Jacques d'Arc and 
of Isabella Roniee. The fountain where Joan watered her 
sheep, and the oak tree beneath which she meditated the de- 
livery of France, were long in the remembrance of the villa- 
gers.'^-" Vaucouleur, a few miles from Domremi, on the Up- 
per Meuse, and the outskirts of the Argonne forest, had for- 
merly belonged to the celebrated crusading family of Join- 
ville, whose territories were lying in the neighborhood ; but 
Philip VI. had obliged the Joinvilles to cede this frontier 
town to him in 1335. There Joan met the generous knight 
Beaudricourt, who furnished her with armor, horses and 
knights, to accomplish her important mission across the hostile 
country to the distant residence of the French Court at Chinou, 
on the south of the Loire. 

^™ There may still be seen at this day, above the door of the hut 
where Jeanne d'Arc lived, three escutcheons carved on stone — that of 
Louis XL who beautified the cottage — that which was undoubtedly 
given to one of her brothers, along with the surname of Du Lis ; — and 
a third, charged with a star and three ploughshares to image the mis- 
sion of the Pucelle and the humble condition of her parents. The tal- 
ented daughter of King Louis Philippe, the late Princess of Wiirtem- 
berg, placed some years ago her fine marble statue of the maiden of 
Lorraine on the market-place of the village. 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. FRANCE. 



163 



We shall here make no mention of Alsace, which at that 
time still formed an integral part of the Germanic Empire, and 
was, at the period we describe, held by the Elector- Palatine 
Louis the Bearded, with the rank of an imperial vicar or Land- 
vogt. 

& IV. The Period of the Expulsion of the English, 
A. D. 1453. 

487. Historical Remarks. — The twenty-four years from 
the victories of the Maid of Orleans in 1429 to the termina- 
tion of the war in 1453, were a period of the most terrible 
calamities for poor France. The northern provinces of that 
beautiful country had become a desert. In the centre, the 
Beauce was so covered with copse-wood that armies sought 
and could not find one another. Hundreds of villages lay in 
ruins, entirely abandoned, the inhabitants had fled to perish 
from want in the cities. Misery and famine had converted 
Paris herself into a focus of disgusting diseases, which by a 
common name were called the plague. Charles VII. had a 
glimpse of the fearful sight of his capital, and fled from it. 
The English made no attempt to return to it. Both parties 
kept at a distance, as if in concert.-'-' Yet Charles, from a 
wanton Dauphin in the school of adversity, became a wise 
and active monarch ; under his energetic administration, 
France was cured — while England, overstraining herself in her 
continental excursions, fell sick, and during her lethargy and 
internal convulsions, the French recovered their courage and 
patriotism ; Burgundy gave up her unnatural alliance in the 
treaty of Arras; the English were driven away from one 
province after the other. Master Bureau, the great engineer, 
brought his heavy artillery to play upon English knights and 
archers ; in spite of all their pi-owess they sunk by thousands 
— last of all old Talbot, on the Dordogne, where the total 
prostration of the English, in 1453, opened the gates of Bor- 
deaux to the persevering King Charles. Thus, of all their 
brilliant conquests, nothing remained except the city of Calais 
and the neighboring castles of Gicines and Hames on the 
channel. The same year witnessed the downfall of the East- 
ern Roman Empire, the Turks stand victorious in Europe, 
and the middle ages are at an end. Let us take a parting 
glance at France in her general division between her king and 
the great feudatories of the crown. 

I. The Royal Domains in 1453. 

488. Designation of the Provinces. — The provinces 
composing the Royal domains at the accession of Louis XI. 
and before the battle of Montlhery, were the following. 

The county of Paris (235), the primitive domain of the 
reigning dynasty, reconquered from the English in 1429, to- 
gether with the whole of Isle de France. The fii'st attempt 
of Charles Vll. to reconquer Paris in 1429 was unsuccessful. 
During the headlong assault on the walls, the Maid of Or- 
leans, who led on the troops, was wounded, and the attack re- 
pelled, but in 1436 the French monarch held his triumphal 
entry among ruins and skeletons. 

The counties of Etampes (483), Mantes, Montfort and 
Vertus, were held by the Dukes of Brittany. The Barony 
of Montmorency, north of Paris, belonged to one of the 
most ancient and distinguished families in France, which, a 
century later — 1554 — obtained likewise the county of Dam- 
martin, northeast of the capital. 

""■^ The wolves alone came prowling to Paris, entering at night in 
search of corpses. In September, 1438, they devoured fourteen persons 
between Monimartre and the Porte Sahit A nfoine. The bands of rob- 
bers or marauding soldiers that scoured the country were still 
more dangerous ; they put a stop to all travel and commerce, and there 
was no refuge for the inhabitants, sa.ve in the castles of the nobility. 



Southern Picardy, or the portion of that province lying 
south of the river Somme, belonged likewise to the crown. 
The district north of the Somme, with the cities on its banks, 
had been given to the Duke of Burgundy (483). The extent 
of Picardy toward the south was, at the time before us, greater 
than at a later period. It embraced then the county of Va- 
Lois, with the capital Crept, the county and lordship of Couci 
in the ancient Vermandois (233), and other estates, all belong- 
ing to the younger branch of the royal family of France, the 
Vahis- Orleans ; they were not united with the crown until 
the accession of Louis XII. of Orleans in 1498. The county 
of SoissoNS (233, VI.), east of this province, belonged to 
Joan of Bar, the wife of Louis of Luxemburg, who was count 
of Saint Pol in Artois, of Brienne in Champagne, and of 
Ligny in the Barrois, one of the most powerful and illustrious 
feudatories of France. The county of Clermont (469), in 
Beauvaisis, formed part of the domains of the house of 
Bourbon (497). 

489. The counties of Champagne and Brie. Rheiins, 
on the small river Vesle, the venerable metropolitan of the 
realm, saw, in 1429, the day of joy and enthusiasm, when 
Charles VII., accompanied by the Maid of Orleans and her 
victorious army, was crowned King of France, and Troyes, 
Chalons, Laon, Soissons, Chateau- Thierry, Provins, and all 
the surrounding cities surrendered to the oriflamme. The 
county of Rethel, on the north of Champagne, was then like- 
wise in the possession of a branch of the house of Burgundy 
(483). — Another alienation was that of the principality of 
Sedan, east of Rethel, which, together with the duchy of 
Bouillon, formed part of the large possessions of the counts 
of La Marck, Dukes of Cleves on the Rhine. The county of 
Joigny, southwest of Champagne, belonged at this period to 
Louis de la Tremoille, who enjoyed the title of Siguier 
Doyen of the seven count-peers of Champagne."^ The lord- 
ship of JoiNviLLE belonged to the counts of Vaudemont, 
on the frontiers of Lorraine. 

490. Normandy (236) was reconquered from the English 
in a single campaign by the brave Dunois — 1449, 1450 — with 
the enthusiastic assistance, however, of the Norman population; 
the cities of Pont-de-V Arche, Pont-Audemer, Lisieuz, Gour- 
nay, Verneuil, Evreux, Louviers, and Alengon, vied with one 
another to throw open their gates. Rouen was long defended 
by the iron arm of Talbot. Charles VII. entered with pomp 
on the 20th November, 1449, nine years after the awful sacri- 
fice of that devoted Maid to whom he owed his crown and 
France its independence. Harfleur, the great military d6pot 
of the English, surrendered a month later. Honfleur, on the 
opposite bank, at the mouth of the Seine, followed the exam- 
ple, and the brilliant victory of the French at Formigny, west 
of Bayeux, on the shores of the channel, opened them Lower 
Normandy, viz. Vire, Bayeux, Avranches, and Caen, the capi- 
tal of this province, which was besieged by King Charles VI. 
himself. Falaise, Domfront, and the strong Cherburg, though 
protected in vain by the sea and numerous garrisons, all fell 
successively into the power of the French. The King did 
not possess the southern part of Lower Normandy ; it formed 
the large duchy of Alenqon, since 1404 united to the counties 
of Perche and Beaumont : the Duke of Alencon having been 
taken prisoner by the English in the battle of Verneuil, in 
1424, sold the more distant barony of Fougeres to the Duke 
of Brittany to pay off his ransom. The counties of Aumale, 
on the frontiers of Normandy and Picardy, of Harcourt, 
south of Rouen, and of Mortain, southwest of Normandy, 

=^* Tliese seven nobles were the Counts of Joigny, Rethel, Brienne, 
Portien Orandpre, Rouci and Braine- Valeon. 



164 



EiaHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. FRANCE. 



were, at the time we describe, united under the sway of the 
widowed countess of Vauclemont, who transmitted them to 
her nephew, Rene II. Duke of Lorraine, in 1476. The county 
of Eu, southwest of Aumale, was held by Charles of Artois, 
for whose benefit Charles VII. erected it into a peerage in 
1458. The county of Evreux, had, in 1404, fallen back to 
the crown. 

491. Orleanais (464, III.) was reconquered from the 
English immediately after the great victory of the Maid of Or- 
leans and the generals of Charles VII. at Patay. The faithful 
city of Orleans herself, owed her rescue to the young heroine, 
who by her mere advance at the head of her knights and meu- 
at-arms, so frightened the superstitious islanders that they 
raised the siege, and fled in disorder before a woman on the 
29th April, 1429. The duchy of Orleans was in 1392 given 
in appanage by Charles VI., to his brother Louis I. of Or- 
leans- Valois. It became afterwards, like Valois (486), unit- 
ed to the crown on the accession of Louis XII. The county 
of Chartres (235) on the southwest of this province, the 
viscounty of Chateaudun and the county of Blois (238 XXV.) 
had passed since the year 1234 from the suzerainty of the 
Counts of Champagne to that of the King of France. The 
county of Dreux (236 XVII.), on the northwest of Chartres, 
had of late been joined to the possessions of the house of Or- 
leans. This county had been given in 1382 by King Charles 
VI. to his son Charles VII., who in 1441 granted it as a 
compensation to the faithful and distinguished house of Al- 
bret (470), from whom it then devolved on the Orleans. 

Berri (478), whose political position had not undergone 
any change since the last period, was, in the year 1453, given 
in appanage by the king to his second son Charles. The 
latter, however, ceded it to his brother Louis XI. in 1463, for 
Normandy. The county of Sancerre, on the southeast of 
Berri, had already in 1334 become a fief of the crown, and 
was then held by Count John IV. one of the bravest generals 
of France, whom the king had made high admiral of the 
kingdom. 

492. Touraine (465) belonged to the Duke of Anjou 
since the year 1424, but King Charles VII. had reserved for 
himself the regalian rights and the town and castle of Chi- 
non, on the Vienne, his favorite residence. 

PoiTou, La Marche, Limosin, Aunis and Saintonge 
(476), remained all in the same political condition as they 
were during the preceding period. The viscounty of Li- 
moges belonged to John of Blois, who likewise held the coun- 
ties of Penthievre (in the north of Brittany) and of Peri- 
GORD, consisting of the northern portion of G-uienne. Charles 
of Orleans had sold it to the Count of Penthievre in 1437. 
The viscounty of Turenne, south of Lower Limosin, had 
passed in 1444, by marriage, into a branch of the house of La 
Tour d'Auvergne. The county of Angouleme (472), situated 
between these provinces, belonged to the domains of the pow- 
erful house of Orleans. 

493. GruiENNE and Gtascogne (479), which in 1 452 were 
reconquered by the brave Dunois at the lance's point, had again 
recognized the royal authority. Bayonne, on the Adour, was 
the only city which defended itself with obstinacy. Bordeaux, 
Fronsac and Dax opened their gates with joy. Many castles 
in the interior, commanded by English knights, held bravely 
out for a time, and received succor from England in October, 
1452; but they were successfully reduced in the following 
year. The last battle in the war was fought at Chatillon de 
Perigord, on the Dordogne, where the old Talbot perished on 



the 17th July, 1453, before the batteries of the great French 
engineer. Master Jean Bureau.-'^* 

Bearn, and the counties of Foix and Langtjedoc, were in 
the same political condition. The latter had five seneschal 
courts — Senechausees, — Toulouse, Carcassonne, Narbonne, 
Beziers, Beaucaire, and besides the seigniory of Montpellier, 
and the counties of Alby, Lodeve, Ninies, Uzes, and several 
others. Dauphine (481) finally with the counties of Valentinois 
and Diois. Valence, the capital of the former, in a charming- 
site, on the left bank of the Rhone. Die, the capital of the 
latter, more southeast, formed the appanage of the Dauphin 
from the time of Louis XI. 

II. Domains of the Great Feudatories, a. d. 1453. 

494. Their Extent. — The Royal Provinces we have de- 
scribed and inclosed — among which we have mentioned many 
feudal domains not belonging to the crown — did not yet em- 
brace half the territory of France. All the rest was still 
divided among the vassals, the most distinguished of whom 
we shall here give an account of. Five were the leading- 
houses ; the first four of whom were allied to the reigning- dy- 
nasty of Valois. 

I. The House of Valois-Orleans. The first family of 
that name sprung from Louis, second surviving son of Charles 
v., the earliest prince who bore the title of Duke of Orleans, 
and who, as we have mentioned, was assassinated at Paris, in 
1407, by his cousin and rival, Jean Sans-Peur, Duke of Bur- 
gundy. The results of this crime were the conflicts of the 
two factions of Burgundians and Armagnacs, and the easy 
conquest of France by Henry V. The history of the flrst 
Duke of Orleans is also memorable for his marriage with Va- 
lentina Visconti, daughter of Jean Galeazzo Visconti, Duke 
of Milan, which eventually gave the house of Orleans preten- 
sions to that duchy, and produced the Italian wars of Louis 
XII. and his successors for its possession.--^ 

Domains. 1. The duchy of Orleans (491), with which 
Charles VI. invested his brother in 1392. 2. The county of 
Valois (488), in Champagne, given to Louis, at his birth in 
1372, by his father, Charles V. 3. The counties of Blois 
(491) and Du?wis^ with the viscounty of ChdXeaicdun^ and 
many seigneuries in the environs, all bought by Louis, in 1391, 
from Guy of Chatillon, for 200,000 livres in gold. 4. The 
Lm-dship of Couci (488), which was one of the most beauti- 

'" How much did it cost those stubborn haughty knights who would 
not understand that a new world had begun to supersede the old ! Lord 
Talbot seeing the French digging in their lines, and throwing up fences 
like mole-hills, mounted his little pony, exclaiming, " May I never 
hear 7nass, if I don't rick them over." The fiery old man left mass, chap- 
lain, and all, to bear down the French beneath the hoofs of his chiv- 
alry — on they came in their glittering array — yet a flash from the 
culverins, and down go the paladins of the middle age, — Talbot, archers, 
banners, and all. The French sally forth, and the rout of the Euglisli 
is complete — it was the last. 

"^ GENEALOGY OF THE FIRST HOUSE OF ORLEANS. 
Charles V., le Sage, f 1380. 



( 
Charles VI. 1 1422. 

A 


LO01S, Duke of Orleans, 1 1407. 

A 


Charles F/Z 1 1461. 

A 


Chaklks, Dnke of 
Orleans, i 1465. 

A 


John, Count of 
Angouleme, 1 1467. 


Louis XI. 1 1483. 

A 


1 

A 


Charles VIIL 1 1498. 


1 \ 

Lotns XII. 1 1515. 

A 


r 1 

Charles, Count of 

Angouleme, t 1493. 

A 




Claudk married 
to Francis I. 


Fkanois I. 1 1547. 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. BURGUNDY. 



165 



ful and powerful baronies of the kingdom, possessing one hun- 
dred and fifty boroughs or villages, besides a great number of 
estates and castles, when Duke Louis of Orleans, bought it, 
in the year 1400, for 400,000 livres ; but a few years later 
after tlie assassination of the duke, nearly half of this rich 
seigniory was transferred to the ducal house of Bar, and, 
in 1431, together with that duchy, to the house of Anjou. 
5. The counties Longxicville, Dreux^ Mortain, Soissons, Beau- 
mont, and the barony Gouniay — all in the north, and 6, the 
counties of Parthenay and Angoumois,''-^ in Poitou, and 7, 
the important territory of Asti, in Italy. The vast domains 
of the house of Orleans were united with the crown, in 1498, 
at the accession of Louis XII., the heir of that family. 

495. II. The House of Burgundy (Bourgogne). — The 
dukes of the younger Burgundian dynasty had,^^'' by inherit- 
ance, marriage, purchase, and conquest, brought together one 
of the most powerful, civilized, and wealthy states of medi- 
seval Europe ; they ranged both under the Emperor of Ger- 
many and the King of France, as great feudatories, though 
almost entirely independent of either, and nothing seemed 
wanting to crown their hopes of ambition and glory, but the 
royal title which the last duke, Charles the Rash, was on the 
point of obtaining from the Emperor Frederic III., at the in- 
terview of Treves, in 1473, when his feud with the wary Louis 
XI. of France, and his imprudent invasion of Switzerland, in 
1476, brought on his terrible defeats at Granson and Morat, 
his death at Nancy ^ and the dispersion of his vast territories 
in 1477. 

496. Burgundian Lands. — I. The duchy of Burgundy, 
given in the year 1363, by King John the Good, to his fourth 
son, Philip the Bold, the ancestor of the second Burgundian 
dynasty, with the title of '■'■first jjeer of France^'' (385, 458, 
473). II. The county of Upper Burgundy (Hoch Burgund), 
or Francke. Comte, between the Saone, Mount Jura, and the 
Rhine, with the capital BESAN90N, the counties Mumpelgard 
and Neuchatel, and the Lordship of Salin. III. The county 
of Flanders, with Ghent, Brugge, Dunkerk, and Ostend. 
IV. The county of Artois, with the city of Arras. V. The 
county of Boulogne. YI. The counties of Ponthieu (482), 
Amiens, and Vermandois, held by the Dukes of Burgundy as 
mortgages of the French crown. Corbie, Abbeville, with the 
whole district of Picardy on the right bank of the Somme, 
and the towns of Roye and Montclidier, in Santerre, were 
united to Flanders by the celebrated treaty of Arras, in 1435. 
VII. The county of Nevers, and VIIL, that of Rethel 
(473) on the Meuse. These counties, together with Artois 
and Flanders, had been inherited by Margaret, the wife of 
Philip the Bold, in 1384, and by her transmitted with the 
same title to her son John the Fearless, in 1405. IX. The 
marquisate of Namur on the Meuse, bought in 1421, for the 
sum of ] 32,000 gold crowns, by Philip the Good, from the last 
Marquis Jean Thierry, who, however, reserved for himself the 
iisusfructus of his possessions until his death, in 1429. All 
these territories the Dukes of Burgundy held as fiefs of the 
French crown, with the exception of Franche Comte, that be- 
longed to Germany. 

497. The prudent and active Philip the Good had by di- 

""The county oiAngownois (Angouleme) passed, in the year 1407, to 
the younger branch of the house, the Valois-Angouleme, and returned 
to the crown when Francis I. of Angouleme mounted tlie French 
throne in 1515. 

'""Series of the Dukes : Philip the Bold, 1363-1404. John the 
Fearless, 1404-1419. Philip the Good, 1419-1467. Charles the Rash, 
1467-147';. 



vers means, by money, intrigues, and the sword, still in- 
creased the number of his extensive states, with X., the im- 
portant duchy of Brabant (530), north of Namur, with the 
cities Bruxelles, Louvain (Lowen), Malines (Mecheln), Bre- 
da, and Nivelles. XL The duchy of Limburg, east of the 
Meuse, and separated from Brabant by the Archbishopric of 
Liege (Liittich). XII. The marquisate of Anvers (Ant- 
werp), with the important commercial city of that name on the 
Scheldt. XIII. The county of Hainaut (Hennegau), on the 
frontiers of France, between Flanders and Brabant, with the 
cities of Mons, Valenciennes, Ath, Conde, Quesno2/, Avesne, and 
Chimay.™ XIV. The counties of Holland and Zealand, 
in the opulent and industrious Netherlands, with the duchy of 
Guelder s (Geldern) (516), West Friesland, and the flourish- 
ing cities of Amsterdam, Hardewyke, Arnhem, Alkmaar, 
Harlem,' Ley den. Delft, Rotterdam, Dortrecht, Ysselmonde, 
Duiveland, Holswaerd, and Leuwarden, in Friesland.''^' XV. 
East Flanders, on the right bank of the Scheldt, with the 
cities Dendremonde, Bevern, Alost, Rilpelmonde, and Aude- 
narde. XVI. The duchy of Luxemburg (Liizelburg), between 
the Meuse and the Moselle, with the cities Liizelburg, Mont- 
medy, Thionville, and the counties Rochefort and Salm, in 
the forest of the Ardennes. The heiress, Elizabeth, of Lux- 
emburg-Gorlitz, surrendered her full inheritance of the duchy, 
and her right to the county of Chiny (on the southwest), in 
1443, to Philip, who, on the resistance of the inhabitants, 
marched an army into the duchy, took the capital by as- 
sault, and occupied the vicariate — Vavouerie — of Alsace (474), 
in 1444, under the title of mambour, or governor, but he did 
not assume sovereign power in these provinces until after the 
death of the Princess Elizabeth, in 1451. The Netherlands, 
East Flanders, Luxemburg, and Alsace, being fiefs of the 
Germanic Empire, the Duke of Burgundy rendered nominal 
homage to the emperor, though he was far more powerful and 
independent than the penniless Austrian, Frederic III., in 

"' These rich countries had, on the death of Count William IV. of 
Holland, in 1345, as imperial fiefs of the Germanic Empire, been given 
by the Emperor Louis, of Bavaria, to his wife, the sister of Count Wil- 
liam IV. The Empress granted them to her son, Albrecht, Duiie of 
Bavaria, and on his death, in the year 1404, his niece, the beautiful 
but extravagant Jacqueline (Jacobea), of Hainaut, became the heiress. 
She married Jean, Duke of Brabant, and brought him her rich inherit- 
ance. But the married couple could not agree ; mutual wrongs pro- 
duced a separation and then a divorce. Jacqueline fled to England, 
where she married the Duke of Gloucestei-, and returned to the Nether- 
lands with an army of five thousand English troops. The Avar now 
broke out between her and her former husband, the Duke of Brabant, 
who was powerfully supported by his cousin, Philip the Good, of Bur- 
gundy. Gloucester and his English knights were defeated in 1424. 
Jacqueline the termagant, getting in trouble with her English husband, 
fled, disguised in full armor, with closed visor, and accompanied by some 
faithful knights (Ornold Spieringk and Vos van Delfk), to Holland, 
where she was well received by her subjects. Afterwards, on the death 
of Duke Jean, of Brabant, and the Duke of Gloucester having divorced 
her, she put her dominions under the administration of the Duke of 
Burgundy, to whom, upon her death, in 1436, the whole descended in 
full possession. Philip le Bon became thus one of tlie most powerful 
princes of Western Europe. 

"" In the year 1225, Frisia (Friesland) became separated from Hol- 
land by an inundation of the ocean, which formed the Zuyder Zee 
(Southern Sea). This disaster was repeated twice during the period we 
describe: first, in 1421, when the lake^ies Bosch, between Brabant and 
Holland, was produced by the rupture of the dykes of the Mosa; 
seventy-two villages were submerged, and one hundred thousand in- 
habitants perished ; by the second eruption, fifty years later, the sea of 
Harlem was formed, covering a territory of more than thirty-six miles 
of land. Friesland suffered a similar calamity in 1277, when the sea 
broke through on its eastern coast and formed the deep bay of Dollarf, 
whose waters submerged thirty-three villages. Friesland, though nei- 
ther fertile nor pleasant, was the object of contention between the 
Emperors of Germany and the Counts of Holland ; yet the Prisons re- 
cognized neither, and lived in a state of almost entire liberty. 



166 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. FRENCH FEUDATORIES. 



spite of all his empty German titles. Philippe !e Bon pos- 
sessed, besides, the following French fiefs : XVII., the county 
of Macon, on the Saone, and XVIII., that of Auxerre, on 
the Yonne, with Chalons, Aussone, and the Castellany of 
Bar-sur-Scina, all which were granted to Burgundy by the 
treaty of Arras. Such was the splendid assembly of states, 
■which, by the conquest of Lorraine by Charles le Temeraire, 
in 1474, might have been moulded into a renewed Burgun- 
dian Empire : yet the inconsiderate and foolhardy enterprises 
of that quixotic knight errant, overturned the wisest plans of 
the old duke, Philip the Good, his father, and caused him to 
perish beneath the halberts of the Swiss cowherds, in the 
frozen swamps of Nancy, in 1477. The immense inheritance, 
descending to his only daughter, fair Mary of Burgundy, be- 
came then the object of the fiercest contests between Germany 
and France, at the beginning of the modern era. 

498. The Netherlands surpassed at that time, all other 
European countries, except Italy, in industry, population and 
riches ; in Louvain there were a hundred and fifty thousand 
mechanics. Liberty was the main cause of this prosperity. 
The duke raised only direct and moderate taxes ; he visited 
the cities, consulted the burghers, and changed the customs 
and duties, according to the convenience of commerce. With 
the spirit of commerce and enterprise, the Dutch combined 
that of arms and rebellion ; violent feuds between dyers 
and fullers often stained the streets of Ghent with the blood 
of her citizens ; Ghent destroyed the factories of Tenremonde. 
The Burgundian power never rose higher than during the 
sway of Philip the Good ; he formed his administration on the 
happiness of his people and good order. By his popular man- 
ners he gained the affection of the Republican citizens; he 
dazzled princes and nobility by the splendor of his court, 
tournaments and fetes, where he sat surrounded by merchants 
and mechanics, who were invited to his board. His fame 
spread over Europe, and in the distant East, Turks and Sara- 
cens called him the great Lord of the West. German arts in 
painting and sculpture developed their most beautiful fruits 
under the fostering care of the old duke, nor did he neglect 
the sciences ; and he collected a rich and magnificent library; 
his standing army were the best drilled troops in Europe, and 
consisted of 20,000 men ; his hoarded treasures were immense, 
and his plate, of massive silver and gold, alone weighed 
72,000 ounces. The Burgundian period, with its pompous 
tournaments, banquets, "its vows of the heron," and institu- 
tions of new orders of knighthood, such as that of the toison 
(Tor, is an era of almost incredible extravagance, tasteless 
pageantry, stiff pedantry, the very quixotism of chivalry, which 
since the battle day at Hastings, and the brilliant career of 
four centtiries in the east and west, had outlived itself, become 
degenerate, and forced to yield to the new inventions and 
higher intellect of the times. To what disasters did the in- 
corrigible nobility not expose itself before it gave up the vain 
contest for supremacy against kings and commoners ! De- 
feats in Flanders, in Souabia against the citizens, in Swit- 
zerland against the mountaineers; captivity and disgrace 
at Nicopolis and Varna, by the superior tactics of the 
Ottoman Turks, and, at last, the loss of its sovereignty and 
extravagant privileges, by the insidious politics of a Louis 
XL =*' 

499. III. The House of Bourbon. The ancestor of the 
Bourbon branch of the royal family of France, was Robert, 

"» See the graphic and accurate description of the Burgundian 
Court, manners and politics, in the admirable History of the jDxikes of 
Burgundy, by the French Historian Mons. de Barante. 



the youngest son of Saint Louis. ^^^ He invested his son, 
in 1269, with the county of Clermont in Beauvaisis (486), 
and Robert, by marrying Beatrice of Burgundy, obtained 
with her the lordships of Bourbon V Archambaud in the north, 
of Bourbonnais, CharoUais, and Saint Just. The ancient 
castle of Bourbon I'Archambaud (238, XXVII.) was his 
residence, and from it he took his title. In the time of Rob- 
ert's son Louis, the Bourbonnais was created a ducal peer- 
age — diiche pairee''^^ — the owner of which therefore assumed 
the title of Duke of Bourbon and the arms of France in 1 327. 
Louis obtained the county of LaMarche (469, 480) from King 
Charles le Bel, and his two sons Jacques and Pierre became 
the chiefs of the two branches of the Bourbon family, which 
flourished at the period we are now describing. 

500. Bourbon Territories. — I. The county of Cler- 
mont ; and II. the duchy of Bourbon, original domain of the 
family. III. The county of Forez, southeast of Bourbon- 
nais ; and IV. The barony of Roannais, northeast of Forez, 
inheritance of Anne, the wife of Louis le Bon, in 1452. V. 
The barony of Combrailles, south of Bourbonnais, between 
La Marche and Avvergne, to which it formerly belonged, was 
bought by Duke Louis le Bon in 1400. VI. The seigniory of 
Beaujolais, south of Maconnais, on the right bank of the 
Saone, and VII. that of Dombes, on the opposite eastern 
bank, together with the castles of Trevoux, Chattlard and 
Amberieux, more east in the Bugey (406), VIII. the duchy 
of AuvERGNE (471), and IX. the county of Montpenster, hi 
the same province northeast of Clermont, both brought as 
dower to Louis le Bon in 1400. 

501. It was at the death of Duke Jean I. the son of 
Louis le Bon in 1434, that the branch of Bourbon Montpen- 
sier separated from that of the Dukes of Bourbon, which kept 
all the other seigniories of this family. The Montpensier 
branch had added the following acquisitions to the county that 
bore its name : 

I. The Dauphine d'Auvergne, on the south, beneath the 
highest mountains, with the city Vodable near the Allier, and 
II. the county of Sancerre (491) on the northeast of Berri, 
which Count Jean inherited of his wife Jeanne, daughter of 
the last Count-Dauphin of Auvergne. Besides the duchy and 
the Dauphine d'Auvergne, there existed likewise a county of 
Auvergne, which Mary of Auvergne, the heiress of the county 
of Boulogne, brought into the noble family of La Tour in 1424. 
The seigniors of La Tour intermarried with the Bourbon 
family. The county lay east of the Allier. Fzt-/e- Co?«^e, a beau- 
tiful small city on that river, was the residence of the Counts 
of La Tour d'Auvergne, whose patrimonial estates lay west 
of the high peaks of Mount d'Or. Moulin, north on the Allier, 



) THE GENEALOGY OF THE BOUEBON HOUSE. 
Saint Louis. 



Hodert, his sixth son, Coimt of Clermont. 



Louis I., !e Bon, 
Dulie of Bourbon. 



Jacques db Bourbon, 
Count of la Marehe. 

John, Count of la Marche, 

married to 

Catherine of Vendome. 



Jacques II., Count of te Marche. 



Peter I., Duke of Bourbon, became extinct in the Con- 
stable Cliarles de Bourbon, in 1527. 



Louis of Boukbom, Count of Vendome, ancestor of the Counts 
Vendome, afterwards Dukes of Bourbon, the Kings of Navarra, 
and of the Royal Bourbon family. 

''' This title denoted at that time a high power and dignity, be- 
cause there were then in France only the Dukes of Burgundy, Aquitaine 
and Brittany, and the title of pair was not bestowed except on the 
children of the king, the princes of the blood and the seigniors of the 
most important fiefa. 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— xi. D. 1300-1453. FRENCH FEUDATORIES. 



167 



was built in the fourteenth century, by the Dukes of Bourbon, 
and their ixsual residence. Their fine Gothic castle is still 
standing, and the city of Moulin has quite a mediaeval appear- 
ance, the houses being fantastically built of black and red 
stones. Mont.brison became, in 1441, the capital of the 
county of Forez. 

502. IV. The house of Anjou. The French King, Louis 
VIII., bequeathed, in 1226, the county of Anjou to his fourth 
son, Charles, who commenced the French house of Anjou, and 
raised it by his conquest of Naples, in 1266 (423), to a height of 
gi-andeur and renown, no longer proportioned to the small pro- 
vince from which it derived its title. The following were the 
Anjou territories in France : I. The counties of Provence 
(486) and of Forcalquier, the inheritance of the Beatrix of 
Provence (daughter of Raymond Berengario IV., the last 
count of those territories), and from 1240, the wife of Charles 
of Anjou. II. The duchy of Anjou. III. The county of 
Maine. IV. The duchy of Touraine (492) with the seign- 
iories Laudun and Mirebalais. These states descended from 
one generation to another in the same family, with the excep- 
tion of the county of Vcnaissin, in Provence, which, in 1274, 
was given to the Roman See, with the only reservation of 
Avignon, on the junction of the Rhone and the Durance. 
Pope Clement VI., however, bought this city, during the re- 
sidence of the Popes in France, for the sum of 80,000 gold 
florins of the light-headed Queen Joan I. of Naples, in the 
year of the plague, 1348. 

503. On the death of Louis III., in 1434, his estates had 
been divided between his two brothers, and they were so still 
at the peiiod we treat of. Rene (Rinatus), the oldest of the 
two, who lost Naples by the sword of Alfonso V., of Aragon, 
and Anjou and Provence by the intrigues of the perfidious 
Louis XI. of France, had, however, the good fortune to inhe- 
rit the duchy of Bar (486) in 1430, and to share the ducal 
crown of Lorraine with his wife, Isabel, the heiress of that 
duchy. But after her death he resigned, and ceded Lorraine 
to John II., Duke of Calabria, his eldest son, who entered 
Nancy, his capital, on the 22d of May, 1453, the same year, 
during which we describe the political condition of France. 
Metz, on the Meuse, more populous and industrious than 
Nancy herself, had, in imitation of the free towns of Germany, 
obtained her independence of the duchy a few years earlier. 
Toul and Verdun remained, likewise, in immediate dependence 
on the Germanic Empire. Rene, — le ban Roi Rene — as he 
was called, devoted himself to poetry, literature, and the fine 
arts. He was himself author of a work on tournaments and 
knightly exercises, and spent his latter days in tranquillity at 
Aix, in Provence. On his death, in 1480, Provence fell back 
to the French crown. Lorraine, which had passed to his 
grandson, Rene II., was conquered by Charles the Rash, of 
Burgundy, in 1473, but the Duke, assisted by the Swiss, de- 
feated Charles, first at Morat, in 1476, and the year after at 
Nancy, where that turbulent warrior perished. Rene of Lor- 
raine, distinguished himself in the wars of Italy, and obtained 
from Charles VIII., the restitution of the duchy of Bar, which 
had been seized by Louis XI. 

504. The house of Brittany (Bretagne). The family of 
Montfort still ruled the duchy, which had been enlarged by 
the barony of Fougeres. The Duke likewise possessed the 
county of Montfort L'Amaury on the southwest of Paris, 
and the estate of Neaufle, northwest of Montfort. Brittany 
was the last of the great fiefs that became united with the crown 
by the marriage of Charles VIII. and Anne of Bretagne, in 
1491. 



505. Territories of the other less powerful Vas- 
sals. — ^Besides the five great dynasties, we here notice several 
others who were not without some importance. Among those 
we have already mentioned were : that of Montmorenci (488), 
Foix (480), Armagnac (481), Astarac (481), Albret (481), 
Luxemburg, or the Counts of Saint-Pol (488), Ahn<;on 
(490), Blois, or Penthievre, (491). We may add the 
following : 

506. The house of Chalons, possessing, 1st, the barony 
of Arlay, in the free county, FrancJie Comte. 2d. The princi- 
pality of Orange, inclosed within the comtat, or county of 

Vcnaissin, and which owed its name to its ancient capital, 
Arausium — Orange — on the Rhone. 3d. The right of suze- 
rainty over the county of Neuchatel, in Switzerland. The 
county of Tonnerre, northwest of Burgundy, belonged for a 
length of time to a branch of this house. 

507. The house of Laval, held in the Lower Maine, the 
seigniory of that name, with one hundred and fifty villages 
and estates. Charles VII. erected it into a county on the day 
of his coronation at Rheims, 17th July, 1429, on account of 
the antiquity of that family, and of their unshaken fidelity to 
the crown. Laval, the capital, was situated west of Mans. 
Dame Anne de Laval defended it heroically at the head of the 
citizens, against the English, in March, 1428; it was taken at 
last, but threw off the yoke in September, 1429. 

508. Such was the territorial division of France on the 
accession of Louis XL, in 14^1. The prudent Charles VII. 
had consolidated the royal authority by the reunion of so 
many alienated provinces with the crown lands, by the organi- 
zation of a standing army of fifteen hundred lances, or nine 
thousand horsemen — les compagnies des ordonnanoes"^"- — and 
by his shrewd management of the parliaments and municipali- 
ties of the cities, who sought their refuge in the king against 
the encroachments of the still powerful feudal nobility. To 
crush the aristocracy and grasp at the absolute royalty was 
the great aim of his treacherous, but sagacious and success- 
fully persevering son. The Italian princes of the fifteenth 
century were the inventors of that insidious, cunning, and per- 
fidious policy, of which Louis XI. was the most eminent im- 
prover, and to which France, during this important period, 
owed the unity of her monarchy. Yet at one time, the crown 
was on the point of sinking before a combination, which, in 
a. d. 1461. might have ended in the dismemberment of 
France. This was the League denominated of Public Weal — 
du bienpublic — in which all the princes and great vassals of the 
French crown were in arms against the king: the Dukes of Brit- 
tany, Burgundy, Alen§on, Bourbon, the Count of Dunois, the 
families of Foix and Armagnac, and at the head of all, 
Charles, Duke of Berry, the king's brother and presumptive 
heir. This great armament for the Public Weal was the last 
struggle of the aristocracy to preserve their independence. 
Yet the faithful adherence of Paris, then already the soul and 
heart's blood of France, and the blunders of the allies after the 
indecisive battle at Montlhery, restored Louis to power and 

■^ Charles VII. had ali'eady in October, 1439, obtained the grant 
of a ground tax — taille — to the amount of 1,200,000 livres annually, 
for the erection of a standing army of fifteen companies, each of one 
hundred steel-clad men-at-arms — gens d'armes, — every lanee accompa- 
nied by five horsemen, a sword-man — coutellier — two mounted archers, a 
squire and a groom — gros valet. Another organization was that of the 
Francs-Archers, in 1445 — which, in spite of the ridicule that attached 
itself to the foot soldiers at that period of expiring chivalry, became, 
nevertheless, the ancestors of the celebrated infantry to which France 
owed her strength and glory in more modern times. 



168 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— 1300-1453. FEANCE— GERMANY. 



to revenge. That crafty politician in the treaty of Conflans, lull- 1 view between Charles the Rash and the old Emperor Fre- 



ed his enemies into sleep by his liberal concessions, by his ap 
panages, and life rents : — whole provinces, with commands of 
troops, were dealt out among his covetous and short-sighted 
opponents. Thus all Normandy, the most important province 
of France, was apparently given away to the Duke of Berry ; 
other concessions were made to Charles of Burgundy and the 
rest. But Louis waited his time — and he crushed them all 
with a vigor that at once discloses the reckless fortitude of 
his mind ; the duchy of Alengon was confiscated, the Count 
of Armagnac assassinated ; the Duke of Nemours, and the 
intriguing Constable of St. Pol, perished on the scaffold. 
Charles of Berry was poisoned, in Guienne, in 1472, by the 
contrivance of King Louis. The headstrong Charles of Bur- 
gundy was shrewdly baited on the Swiss, and immediately 
after his fall, at Nancy, in 1477, Louis seized on the duchy 
and county of Burgundy, on the cities on the Somme, in 
Picardy, and only the sharp lance of the chivalrous Maximi- 
lian of Austria, the bridegroom of Mary of Burgundy, could 
save the Low Countries, in 1478. The sword, the axe, the 
rope, and the poison, of Louis XL had proved successful ; on 
his death-bed, at the gloomy castle of Plessis-les-Tours, on the 
Loire, in 1483, surrounded by all the furies of a conscience 
loaded with crimes, the old sinner bequeathed to his son, 
Charles VIII. , a united France, an improved administration 
and army, an obsequious parliament, a humbled and trembling 
nobility, a faithful and prosperous bourgoisie, and the preten- 
sions of the crown to an absolute monarchy, under which 
France at once enters on the stage of modern history. 

509. Cities, Castles, and Historical Sites. — Montlkery 
(306), a superb Gothic castle, two leagues southwest of Paris, 
on the west of the Seine, between Rambouillet and Etampes, 
where was fought the singular battle on the 16th July, 1465, 
between King Louis XL and Charles the Rash, then Count of 
Charolais (497), and the other chiefs of the League, for the 
Public Weal. Louis routed the left wing of the hostile army 
under the Count of Saint Pol, whilst the impetuous Charles 
bore down the French centre and left wing, under the cow- 
ardly Duke of Maine, but was himself wounded in the throat, 
and in imminent danger of being unhorsed and captured. 
Charles announced his vain triumph by sound of trumpets and 
chivalrous show — but the prudent Louis obtained all the 
fruits of victory by occupying Paris, and shrewdly flattering 
the fickle Parisians into fidelity and enthusiasm for his cause. 
Conflans, near the Vincennes, south of Paris, on the eastern 
bank of the Seine. Here, on the 29th October, 1465, the 
treacherous peace between Louis XL and the confederates was 
concluded, which apparently placed the finest provinces into 
their hands. Peronne-la-Pucelle — the Virgin Castle '^' — a 
strong fortress on the right bank of the Somme, in Picardy, 
where, on the 9th of October, 1468, Louis XL, while playing 
his double game against Charles of Burgundy, was made the 
prisoner of the latter, and placed in that awkward position so 
admirably delineated in the Quentin Durward of Sir Walter 
Scott. It was on the return of Louis to Paris, from his dis- 
graceful capture at Peronne, that he was received by the sa- 
lute of Peronne ! Peronne ! by hundreds of prattling magpies 
and parrots, whom the witty and sarcastic Parisians had 
taught this taunting welcome to their outwitted monarch. 
Treves, on the Moselle, the scene of the pompous inter- 

-'' The citizens of Peronne were proud of the maiden name of their 
town. It withstood victoriously every siege, and repelled the numer- 
ous and warlike troops of Henry of Nassau, in 1563. But it lost its 
pucellage in June, 1815, to the Duke of Wellington, when he took the 
fortress on the general consternation produced by the battle of Wa- 
terloo. 



deric III. of Germany, September 19th, 1473, during which 
all the preparations for the coronation of Charles as King of 
Burgundy, were made, when the wary Emperor silently stole 
away with his Germans, and crossed the Rhine as a fugi- 
tive. Nancy, the capital of Lorraine, in vain besieged by 
Charles during winter, 1477. At Vireley, near Nancy, was, 
on January 7, 1477, fought the battle against the Duke Rene 
of Lorraine, and the Swiss, which Charles the Rash lost by 
the treachery of the Neapolitan Count Campobasso. While 
fleeing from the battle field, the duke sank with his barbed 
horse into the frozen morass, and was cut down by the pursu- 
ing enemies. His disfigured body was discovered and recog- 
nized several days after the battle, and buried in Nancy by 
the Duke Rene. Guinegate, west of Terouenne, in Flanders, 
where the young brilliant Maximilian of Austria, immediately 
after his marriage with Mary of Burgundy, met the French 
army of Louis XL, on the 7th of August, 1479. The French 
were ridden down by the German and Dutch knights ; they 
fled on the spur, and that action took the significant name of 
the battle of the spurs — the last, in which the French spurred 
out of the middle ages ! 

510. The Ecclesiastical Division of France in 1322. 
— In consequence of the crusades against the Waldenses and 
Albigenses in southern France during the thirteenth century, 
some important changes in the Church government of the 
southern provinces were undertaken by Pope John XXII., 
— 1316-1334, — which afterwards remained unchanged until 
the great revolution of 1789. Alby (391, VI. 3,) became 
separated from Bourges, and raised to a metropolitan see, to 
which were added the suffragan churches of Cahors, Rhodez, 
and Mende. Castres and Vabres were erected into bishoprics, 
and likewise placed under Alby. Toulouse was formed into 
an archbishopric ; and the episcopal churches of Montauban, 
Lombez, Rieux, Saint Pepoul, Pa,micrs, and Mirejjoix, were 
assigned as its suffragans, while the ancient see of Narbonne 
(392, X.), received as indemnification the newly established 
bishoprics of Aleth and Saint Pons. In the west, the too 
extensive diocese of Poitiers (391, IV., 1,) became divided 
into three, and that of Age^i (391, IV. 5,) into two bishoprics, 
by the erection of the suffragan churches of Maillezais, 
Luzon, Sarlat, and Condom, in 1317, by a bull of John 
XXII. , in which all four were placed under the See of Bor- 
deaux. 



VII. Romano-Germanic Empire 



FROM THE 



DOWNFALL OF THE 
TO THE CLOSE OF 



SOUABIAN DYNASTY, A. D. 
THE MIDDLE AGES. 



1252, 



511. Germany, under the Luxewburgian, Bavarian, 
AND Austrian Dynasties. — In France monarchy had become 
consolidated. In Germany, the imperial power was lost with 
Frederic II. ; and though the shadow of an empire was still 
kept up, yet Germany consisted in reality of nearly two hun- 
dred independent rulers, princes ecclesiastical and secular, 
nobles of different ranks, and free cities of the empire. Fre- 
deric II. had spent his life in Italy in feuds against the Popes 
and the Lombard Republics. He neglected Germany, and 
was careless of those imperial prerogatives, which it seemed 
hardly worth an efi"ort to preserve for an Italian prince. He 
therefore sanctioned the independence of the princes, recog- 
nized the privileges and armed confederacies of the cities, and 
laid thus the foundation of a total change in the constitution 
of Germany in the fourteenth century. The succession to the 
crown had always been elective ; but the election itself, which 
formerly had belonged to the different tribes in their division 
of duchies, became now, after the dissolution of the duchies 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. GERMANY. 



169 



of Saxony, Franconia, and Souabia, circumscribed to the 
three German archbishops of Maintz, Treves, and Cologne, 
and four secular princes, the Duke of Saxony on the Upper 
Elbe — Kur-Sachsen — the Count-Palatine of the Rhine, the 
King of Bohemia, and the Margrave of Brandenburg.-'* The 
anxiety of the princes to maintain their independence was 
already shown in 1273, when they elected the honest and 
prudent, but powerless, Rudolph, Count of Habsburg, King 
of Germany. Rudolph, without attempting to obtain the 
imperial crown of Rome by intermeddling with the affairs of 
Italy, turned all his attention to the internal pacification of 
the fatherland, and to the consolidation of his family estates 
by the acquisition of the archduchy of Austria with Carinthia 
and Styria for his son Albert. This sudden increase of im- 
perial power frightened the princes. On the death of Ru- 
dolph, in 1293, they chose the penniless Adolph of Nassau 
for his successor, and it was only by the lance-thrust with 
which Albert of Austria killed his opponent at GcUheim, 
that he could usurp a dignity which at once made him for- 
midable to the liberties of Germany. Albert's plans were 
rast, and his ambition boundless ; but he fell by assassination, 
in 1308, while marching against the Swiss, and the electors 
now hurried to raise the chivalrous Henry VII. of Ltizelburg 
(Luxemburg), to the German throne. The attempts of 
Henry to extend the influence of bis family were more suc- 
cessful than those of the Habsburgers Bohemia became 
a fief of his house, by the marriage of his son John of Lux- 
emburg with the heiress of that kingdom. Yet the warlike 
spirit of Henry VII. carried him to Italy, where, at the head 
of the Ghibeline party, he took the imperial crown in Rome, 
and would have restored the German supremacy there if he 
bad not been poisoned by a monk at Buonconvento, in Tus- 
cany, in 1313. The two great parties in Germany, the Lux- 
emburgers and the Habsburgers, began immediately the civil 
war. The former elected the distinguished Louis of Bavaria; 
the latter, Frederic the Handsome, of Austria. Louis, to 
strengthen his party, scattered with a lavish hand, privileges 
and immunities to princes and cities, and defeated and cap- 
tured the Austrian in the chivalrous battle at Muhldorf, in 
Bavaria, September 22, 1322. The star of Austria seemed 
to set. Leopold, the brother of Frederic, had been defeated 
by the Swiss, in the terrible massacre at Morgarten, in 1315 ; 
nor did an Austrian prince obtain the imperial crown until 
a century later, after the reigns of the three Luxemburgo- 
Bohemian kings, Charles IV., 1347-1378, Wenceslaus, 1387- 
1410, and Sigismund, 1410-1437. With Albert IL of 
Austria, 1347-1349, and his successor and cousin, Frederic 
[II. of Austi'ia-Styria, 1440-1493, began the steady progress 
of the Habsburg House, which thenceforth kept possession of 
the imperial throne of Germany. 

512. Frontiers and Foreign Relations of Germany 
ABOUT A. D. 1453. — The frontiers of the empire had under- 
gone some changes since the last period ; yet they still pre- 
served nearly the same extent. If, by the encroachment of 
the French kings, Daujihine, and Provence had been lost on 
the west, Pomerania, the Neumai-Jc, Lausitz and Silesia 
had been annexed on the east. In the north, the county of 
Holstein had, as a German fief, been united with the Danish 
crown, shortly after the accession of Count Christian of 01- 
denborg to the throne of that kingdom, in 1448, and was 
some years afterwards, in 1474, erected into a duchy (436). 

"^''See, for details on the political history of this period, Hallam's 
Middle Ageg, pages 232-249, New-York edition, 1839. ; Kohlrausch's 
History of Germany, chapters XII.-XV,, and for tlie rise of tlie House 
of Habsbxu'g, Coxe's accurate and interesting; History of Austria, 



In the south, the powerful Dukes of Savoy, already extending 
their possessions into Italy, still recognized their dependence 
on the empire ; but the Swiss mountaineers had, by their 
victories at Morgarten, in 1315, at Sempach, 1386, and Nafels, 
1388, thrown off the Austrian yoke, conquered and occupied 
all the hereditary lands of the Habsburg family in the Aar- 
gau and Thurgau, and constituted their glorious confedera- 
tion of the eight old cantons. The relations to Italy had 
been temporarily renewed during the campaigns of Henry 
VII. and Louis of Bavaria. Charles IV. took the imperial 
crown in Rome, a. d. 1355 ; but this was only pageantry, void 
of any real political influence, and Italy was, in 1453, almost 
entirely independent of the German empire. 

51 3. The Electors of the Empire and their Digni- 
ties.— The Golden Bull,'''' published by Charles IV., in 1356, 
sanctioned all the rights and privileges which the great vas- 
sals had usurped. The electors were seven, ranking in the 
following order : I. the Archbishop of Mainz (Mayence), as 
Arch- Chancellor of Germany. He possessed, as sovereign 
prince, the territories of Maiiiz, on the Rhine and Mayn ; 
Ashaffmburg, with a large tract on the Upper Mayn, in 
Franconia; besides Marburg, Erfurth, EicJisfeld, Frizlar, 
and some fiefs on the R,hine and in Lorraine. II. the Arch- 
bishop of Treves, as Arch- Chancellor of Burgundy, with an 
extensive territory on the Moselle. III. the Archbishop of 
Cologne, as Arch-Chancellor of Italy, with the duchy of 
Westphalia. IV. the King of Bohemia, as Arch-Seneschal. 
V. The Count-Palatine of the Rhine, as Arch-Sewer. VI. 
The Duke of Saxe- Wittenberg, as Arch- Marshal (with 
the exclusion of the ducal line of Saxe-Lauenburg) ; and, 
finally, VII. The Margrave of Brandenburg. The votes of 
the seven electors were for ever united to their territories, 
which were considered as inalienable feudal possessions of 
the empire. 

514. I. Division of the States and Free Cities of 
the Empire. — The kingdom of Bohemia, with the Lausitz, 
Silesia, and Moravia, the two latter not belonging directly 
to the empire. The Bohemians, in their hate against the 
grasping house of Austria, which asserted a claim upon the 
kingdom, gave, in 1311, the heiress of the throne, Elizabeth, 
the granddaughter of King Ottocar, in marriage to the 
chivalrous John of Luxemburg, son of Henry VII. By this 
nearer connection with Germany, the manners and language 
of the Czechs underwent great changes, and even the laws of 
Bohemia became written in the German tongue. Its bril- 
liant era was enjoyed by that beautiful country under the active 
and, for his own hereditary kingdom, higlily beneficent Charles 
IV., the son of John of Luxemburg — 1346-1378. Prague 
(399) became then the capital of Germany. Charles embel- 
lished his favorite city with magnificent churches and palaces, 
and founded, in 1371, its celebrated university. His son and 
successor, Wenceslaus, despised and deposed in Germany, 

-^° This celebrated statute received that name from the Golden Seal 
affixed to it. It exempted the electoral domains from the imperial jn- 
I'isdiction ; gave the electors regalian rights over the mines, coins, and 
taxation, and insured their pre-eminence, over all the other princes. 
It gave likewise some regulations concerning the general peace — Land 
friede — and decreed that after a proclamation made three days pre 
viousljf, the right of warfare among the princes of the empire should 
be declared and enforced. Yet the Golden Bull did not define more 
minutely the relations of the emperor to the states, nor those of the 
lower nobility and the cities to the electors, and became, therefore, by 
its indefiniteness, the cause of all the subsequent feuds of the nobility 
against the princes, and those large confederacies of barons and repub- 
lican cities, which, during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, ^9-aged 
jin almost continual war with one another. 



170 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. BOHEMIA— SILESIA. 



reformed the laws of Bohemia, and substituted the national 
h\uguage in the different courts of justice. John Huss and 
Jerome of Prague flourished during his reign ; but the mass 
of the inhabitants were too ignorant to appreciate their vir- 
tues talents, and noble disinterestedness, nor their wise and 
enlio-htened views concerning religious reform. It was not 
until after their awful execution at Constance, in 1413-14, 
that their partisans, the Hussites, under the command of that 
astonishino- warrior, John of Trocznow, now called Zisca — the 
One-eyed — demanded the reform, sword in hand, and began 
those bloody and devastating Hussite wars, which, from 1414 
to 1434, spread death and destruction over all the neighbor- 
inw countries. Under the admirable governor, and afterwards 
king, George Podiebrad, who was elected regent during the 
minority of the young Wladislaw, son of King Albert of 
G-ermany, but who himself mounted the throne in 1458, by the 
vote of the people ; Bohemia quickly recovered from the 
wounds of the religious war. Her cities were rebuilt ; her 
ao-riculture, commerce, and industry became flourishing, and 
her Protestant population, then forming the great majority 
of the nation, enjoyed quietly their liberties and privileges, so 
stoutly defended, until they afterwards, during an eventful 
period in modern history, were undermined and annihilated 
by treacherous Austria. 

515. Cities and Historical Sites in Bohemia. — Prague 
(Praha, Praga, Prag), the ancient and beautiful capital of Bo- 
hemia, is situated on the river Moldau, which traverses the 
city and divides it into four quarters : Hradschin, or Upper 
Town, and Kleinseite^ or Small Side, on the left, and Alt-stadt 
and Neu-siadt, on the right bank. A magnificent stone bridge, 
supported by sixteen arches, and adorned with twenty-eight 
colossal statues of saints, was built by the Emperor Charles 
IV., in the year 1338, across the river. It unites the Hrad- 
schin with the Old Town, and the access to it is fortified with 
high and picturesque towers. On the commanding heights of 
the Hradschin stand the superb Gothic cathedral and the im- 
mense castle and palace of the Bohemian kings, and on the 
market-place, in the Old City, the Carolinian university, with 
its rich library of Bohemian manuscripts, and the Gothic town- 
hall of that period. The infuriated Hussites stormed that 
building in July, 1419, and threw down from the windows the 
hostile senators, who were caught on the lance points of the 
multitude below. The old King Wenceslaus, beholding this 
horrible scene from his balcony, fell dead in a fit of anguish 
and despair. Mount Zisca (Wissehrad), south of Prague, 
where that blind and maimed Chief of the Hussites formed 
his impregnable camp, and defeated King Sigismund and his 
chivalry of Germany on the 14th of July, 1420. Hnssinecz, 
a small town on the frontiers of Bavaria, was the birthplace 
of John Huss. Mount Hradistic, in the province oi Bechinsko, 
on a branch of the river Wultava, became the gathering place 
and the stronghold of the Hussites, who called their fortress 
Mount Tabor, and took themselves the name of Taborites. 
Trocznow, south of Mount Tabor, was the paternal castle of 
the terrible Zisca. Kuttenberg, east on the Upper Order, lay 
in a mountainous region, whose rich silver mines were disco- 
vered toward the beginning of the fourteenth century. Charles 
IV. drew from them the most abundant revenues of his king- 
dom. Carhtein, a magnificent castle on the Moldau, south- 
west of Prague, built by Charles IV., where the Bohemian 
crown jewels were kept. Carlsbad, on the Tepel, northwest 
of Pragu ■, in a beautiful valley, surrounded by high wood- 
clad mountains, became famous from the time of Charles IV., 
by the accidental discovery of the hot springs in 1458, while 
the king was enjoying a stag-hunting near the boiling pool. 
Brix. Aussig, Saats, Deut.-ch-Brod, Mies and Tauss were 



cities celebrated by the astounding victories of the Hussites, 
who there, witli tlieir iron-shod flails, mowed down the proudest 
knights of Germany, and frustrated all the attempts of the 
German princes to quell their insurrection, until the fanatic 
Taborites, after the death of Zisca, before Przybi.slaw, in 1 424, 
fell into feuds among themselves. Thus weakened, they were 
at last surrounded and totally routed at Boliniisck-Brod by 
the Catholic party, at Prague, in 1434. Their able generals, 
the two Procopii, fell, and, after another defeat at Lomnicza, 
they were forced to surrender Mount Tabor and their other 
strongholds, and do homage to King Sigis.nund, in 1436. 

516. Attached to the royal crown of Bohemia were the 
three provinces of Moravia, Silesia, and the Lausitz. I. 
The Margravate of Moravia (Msehren), was so called from 
the river Morava (March), which fiows through its plains, and 
discharges into the Danube. Moravia formed, at the time of 
the dismemberment of the Cai-lovingian empire, a powerful 
state under the able Prince Swatopluk. It extended through 
Avaria to Belgrade on the Danube. But it was soon de- 
stroyed by the invasions of the Hungarians and the unpolitic 
divisions among the sons of Swatopluk. It became later, 
under the Bohemian kings, a margravate, or border county, 
against the Poles and Hungarians, and was dreadfully devas- 
tated by the incursions of the Hussites. The mass of its 
inhabitants belonged to the Sclavonian race, though many 
German colonies had early been settled in the country. The 
Sclavonians themselves were divided into several branches. 
The Hannacks, Straniacks, Sloivacks or Chraivats, Horacks, 
and Wallacks, who all could be distinguished from one 
another by their dialects, customs, and dress. The Stran- 
iacks inhabited the frontier districts of Hungary. The 
Wallacks early migrated from the Carpathians ; they spoke 
the Bohemian dialect, and wore the Hungarian costume ; 
they lived mostly in the immense forests of the mountain 
region, and carried on a lucrative trade in wood and tinder. 
The Hannacks were occupied with cattle-breeding. The 
language of the Moravo-Sclavonians, though a corrupt dialect 
of the Bohemo-Polish, has its own literature, and is described 
as excelling the other Slavic dialects in harmony and soft- 
ness. Cities were : Br'no (Brunn), the capital of the border 
counts, Holomucz (Olmutz), the archiepiscopal see for Mo- 
ravia. Iglau, situated in a wild and mountainous region, 
was the place where the Emperor Sigismund, in 1434, made 
peace with the Hussites, and was recognized as King of Bo- 
hemia. Kremsier, Znaym, and Hradiscli, were likewise 
cities of some note. 

II. Silesia, extending all along the eastern frontiers of 
Moravia and Bohemia, had become united to the Bohemian 
crown in 1435-1455 (446). This fertile and beautiful province, 
which, during the period we describe, was the El-dorado of 
German emigration, in the same manner as the United States, 
California and New Holland are at the present day, became soon 
Germanized, industrious and wealthy. Its mines were worked, 
and its natural products found ready markets in Germany, 
Poland, and Russia. Breslau, the ancient ducal capital, on 
the Oder, Glogau, Liegnitz, Brieg, Neisse, Oppeln, and 
Teschen, were flourishing commercial cities. The estates ob- 
tained from King Wladislaw, in 1498, extensive territorial 
privileges — Landesfreiheiten — which circumscribed the juris- 
diction of the king and the feudal military service which the 
vassals were bound to render annually. All the German 
traffic with Poland passed through Breslaw. Its active cit- 
izens bought with ready money the enfranchisement of their 
town, and enjoyed an almost republican form of government. 
III. The principality of Lausitz, on the north of Bohemia, 
was likewise a precious acquisition from Poland, both on ao- 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. BRANDENBURG— SAXONY. 



171 



count of its fertility and its advantageous position, thus uniting 
Bohemia, on the north, with Brandenburg^ another of the 
immense territories which the covetous and gras2)ing dynasty 
of Luxemburg, temporarily at least, succeeded in bringing 
under its sceptre. 

517. V. The margraviate of Brandenburg was bordered 
on the north by Mecklenburg and Wolgast, on the east by 
Poland, south by the Lausitz and Saxony-Wittenberg, and 
cast by the episcoioal see of Magdeburg and the duchy of 
Luueburg. Its political division was into Altmark-, Priegnitz, 
TJkci-tnark, Mittelmar/c, Neumark, and the three smaller 
districts of Lebus, west of the Oder, Sternberg, on the oppo- 
site shore, and Cottbus, a territory inclosed within the pro- 
vince of Lausitz. 

During the fierce wars against the Sclavonians, Count 
Albert of Ascherslebot (Ascania), called the Bear, conquered, in 
1 133, the town of Brannibor (Brandenburg) from the Wilzes and 
Welatabes (188, 389, II.), and received, in 1150, from the 
Emperor Conrad III., the title of elector and mai'grave. The 
whole JVordmark, as the county was then called, was still 
covered with marshes, heaths, and forests. Albert undertook 
to clear the land ; he built towns, which he peopled with nu- 
merous colonies of Germans, who had settled in Holland, but 
were obliged, in consequence of the inundation of the sea, to 
quit that country (497). Christianity was spread among the 
Slavi, and established in the Nordmark during his reign. 
He erected churches and monasteries, endowed schools, and 
labored to civilize and enlighten his barbarous subjects. He 
was the true founder of the margraviate of Brandenburg, for 
before his time the different border counts were only appointed 
during life by the emperor, and Albert was the first for 
whom it was erected into an imperial fief. His successors 
promoted the cultivation of the country, which they extended 
by conquests ; Neiunark., on the east of the Elbe, was wrested 
from Poland (380) ; the Ukermark, from Pomerania, in 
1256; and Otto III. of Brandenburg, obtained by marriage 
the JJjJper Lausitz from Bohemia. When, at last, the As- 
canian line of Anhalt became extinct, in 1 320, the neighboring 
princes were immediately at hand, ready to divide the rich 
spoils ; yet the active conqueror, Louis of Bavaria, perceiving 
the favorable opportunity to augment the influence of his 
house, declared at the diet of Niirnberg, in 1323, Branden- 
burg to be an escheated fief of the empire, and gave it to 
his son Louis. This sudden extension of the Bavarian dy- 
nasty in the north of Germany became a thorn in the eyes 
of all the neighboring Low-German princes. Their hate and 
envy broke out into open hostility, when Margrave Louis 
of Brandenburg, in 1335, married Margaret Maultasch, the 
heiress of the county of Tyrol, in the Alps. Yet Louis stood 
his ground ; with the support of Denmark he defeated all his 
adversaries; and it was not until, in the year 1365, that 
Charles IV. of Bohemia, partly by force and partly by money, 
obtained the cession of Mark Brandenburg from Otho, the 
brother and successor of Louis. During so many feuds and 
troubles, the country had suffered dreadfully ; the people had 
become oppressed with taxes and debts ; vast tracts of land 
lay entirely waste. Here a new field opened for so active 
and organizing a mind as that of the Luxemburger. With 
laudable zeal and prudence he attended to the improvement 
and prosperity of his Brandenburg dominions. The whole 
territory combined, at that period, three provinces : I. Maf.- 
cHiA Transalberana, Or the Altmark, west of the Elbe, 
with the ancient capital Salzioedel. II. MARCiirA Media, 
the Mittelmark, the country between the Elbe and the Oder, 
comprising Priegnitz and Ukcrmark, on the north, with the 
cities Brandenburg, Havelberg, Berlin, Colin, Bcrnau, and 



Prenzlau ; and III. Makchia Teansoderna, or the Ncu- 
mark, on the frontiers of Poland, with the cities Wedel, 
Soldin, Bernstedt, and Friedland. King Wenceslaus gave 
Brandenburg to his brother Sigismund, who, already King of 
Hungary, was elected emperor by the interest and good ofiices 
of Frederic, Count of Hohenzollern and Burgrave of Nurn- 
berg. But the emperor, being lavish of his treasures, 
and always in difiiculties for want of money, ceded to the 
Count of Hohenzollern, in 1415, the state of Brandenburg as 
a hereditary fief, with the privileges of the electoral dignity, 
for the comparatively paltry sum of 150,000 gold fiorins. 
With this remarkable financial operation, the prudent Fre- 
deric I., now Elector of Brandenburg, laid the foundation of 
the mighty Prussian monarchy, which his descendants, the 
IlohenzoUerns, possess to the present day. Frederic II., 
who followed his father from 1440 to 1470, directed his whole 
attention to the future development of the country ; and his 
long reign was highly beneficial to its commerce, industry, and 
ao'ricidture ; nor did he neglect to encourage the education 
and chivalrous virtues of the higher classes. He instituted, 
in 1443, the order of the Sxvan-knights, chain-bearers of the 
fair ladies ; and he recovered the Neumai-k from the Teutonic 
Order in Prussia, to whom Sigismund had mortgaged it, in 
1402 (380). Thus Brandenburg appears in a very prosperous 
state at the close of the middle ages; and its importance in 
the political balance of the European powers became fully 
secured in the sixteenth century by the marriage of the 
Duchess Anna of Prussia with the Elector John Sigismund 
of Brandenburg. Its cities, however, were not of great mo- 
ment in this early period (398). Salzwedel was the an- 
cient capital of the Ascanian princes. Brannibor (Branden- 
burg), on the Havel, a Sclavonian fortress, gave its name to 
the principality. Postdeprimi (Postzein), on an island formed 
by the confluence of the Ruth and the Havel, an ancient set- 
tlement of the Wiltzes, became afterwards the magnificent 
Potsdam of the great Frederic II. of Prussia. Berlin, in a 
sandy desert, on the Spree, opposite to Colin, was founded 
by Count Albert, in 1163, and rose slowly to its present im- 
portance. Bernau, in the Mittelmark, withstood gallantly 
the attack of the Hussites ; it owed its industry and wealth 
to the fugitive French Huguenots, who found there a refuge 
during the religious wars of the sixteenth century. 

518. VI. The Electorate and Duchy of Saxe- Witten- 
berg — Kur Saelisen — comprised the lands on the Upper 
Elbe, Misnia, and Thuringia (398) ; to it was attached the 
electoral dignity and the office of hereditary marshal of the 
empire. On the extinction of the Ascanian house (396, III.), 
in 1423, Frederic the Warlike, Margrave of Misnia, was in- 
vested with the duchy. It was then at the height of the Hus- 
site war, and the countries on the Elbe were continually ex- 
posed ^0 the invasions of the Bohemian fanatics ; yet Frederic 
opposed them victoriously, and obtaining new enfeoffments 
from the emperor, he became, by the strength of his rich 
principalities, the splendor of his dignity united to his great 
personal qualities, one of the most powerful princes in Germany. 
He was succeeded in his electoral dominions by his son, Frederic 
the Mild — 1428-1464 — who, disputing with his brother Wil- 
liam, the inheritance of Thuringia, caused the outbreak of that 
bloody war, the Brothers'' feud, which, for five years, brought 
desolation over the most fertile civilized regions of Germany. 
llis sons, Albert and Ernest, joined in 1482, the Thuringian 
possessions of their uncle William to Saxony and Misnia, and 
became the founders of the Albertine and Ernestine dynasties 
of modern Saxony.-'" 

'^"' The Albertine line still reigns in the present small kingdom of 
Saxony; while the Ernestine branch has become subdivided into llio 



HZ 



EIGHTPI PEKIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. SAXONY— PALATINATE. 



The electoral dignity was iulicritcd by Ernest, who possess- 
ed the eastern portion of the county, on the Elbe and part of 
southwestern Thuringia — this was then called Electoral Saxony, 
or Kur Sachsen. Ho was succeeded by his son, Frederic the 
Wise, who founded, in 1502, the university of Wittenberg, 
Avhere the great theologians, Luther and Melancthon, com- 
menced the Reformation of the Church in 1517. 

519. Cities and Historical Sites. — Wittenberg, on 
the right bank of the Elbe, was the capital of the Ascanian 
Dukes. From this city the duchy took its name of Saxe- 
Wittenberg. Dresden, south of Wittenberg, on the Elbe 
(247), became the residence of the Albertine Princes, while 
Weimar, on the Ilm, was chosen as capital by the Ernestini- 
ans. Wartbv.rg, the celebrated castle near Eisenach, was the 
earlier residence of the Landgraves of Thuringia. It Was 
from the towers of this fortress that Margaret of Hohenstau- 
fen, the daughter of Frederic II., descended in disguise to es- 
cape from the dagger of her adulterous husband. Margrave Al- 
bert the Wicked, in 1271. While giving her children the part- 
ing embrace, the unhappy lady, in her frantic despair, bit her 
little son, Frederic, in the cheek, and that chivalrous prince 
was afterwards called Frederic with the Bitten Cheek — Frie- 
derich niit der gebisseueii Wange. Liicau (Lucka), southwest 
of Leipzic, where this Frederic and his brother, Diezmann, in 
1298, totally defeated the usurper Adolph, of Nassau, who 
had purchased Thuringia, their inheritance, from their unna- 
tural father, Albert the Wicked. Leipzig, on the Elster, was 
then already a thriving commercial city Here Diezmann, the 
younger brother of Frederic, was assassinated before the al- 
tar, in January, 1308, by Philip of Nassau, the imperial com- 
mander of Albert of Austria. The university of Leipzig was 
founded in 1409, and becaiiie flourishing on the outbreak of 
the Hussite troubles in Bohemia, when thousands of German 
students with their professors, abandoned the high school of 
Prague, and took their residence in Leipzig. Borna, south 
of Leipzig, where Frederic the Bitten destroyed the Austrian 
bands of King Albert I., in a chivalrous battle, January, 
1308, and unhorsed and slew with his own hand, the per- 
fidious Philip of Nassau, the murderer of his brother. AUen- 
burg, a beautiful castle, south of Borna, where the Knight 
Kunz of Kaufungen, during the Brothers^ feud, in 1453, at- 
tempted to kidnap Albert and Ernest, the two young Saxon 
princes. The boys were hurried ofl" into the Thuringer forest, 
but there rescued by a stout coal-heaver, to whom they made 
themselves known. Kunz, the robber, was beheaded in Alten- 
burg. Wetiin, on the Saale, the residence of the earlier Sax- 
on princes. JEisleben, in the county of Mansfeld, was the 
birthplace of the great Reformer, Martin Luther, November 
10th, 1483. Freiberg, Schneeberg, and Annabcrg, on the 
northern slope of the Erz- Gebirgc, were mining towns, whose 
rich silver ores, discovered toward the middle of the fifteenth 
century, furnished large revenues to the Dukes of Saxony, yet 
the civil feuds and the extravagance of the times, swallowed 
up all their treasure, and the people were not the less op- 
pressed by onerous tributes and taxes, the invention of 
that age. 

520. VII. Electorate and Palatinate of the Rhine — 
Rhein-Pfalz — formed part of the ancient duchy of Franconia, 
which, like Souabia, was dismembered on the downfall of the 
Hohcnstaufens (399). It embraced two difi"erent provinces, 
which were separated from each other by many secular and 
ecclesiastic states in Central Franconia. I., the Palatinate 
ON the Rhine, or Lower Palatinate—iyafo am Rhein— 

four .sovereign liousos of Saxe-Altenbvrg, Ooburg-Gotha, iVeininf/en, 
and Weimar. 



was situated on both sides of that river, and bounded by 
Wiirtemberg, Baden, Alsace, LoiTaine, Treves, and Hesse. 
II., the Upper Palatinate, or Ober-Ffcdz, on the cast, was 
surrounded by Bohemia, Bavaria, and Niirnberg. The Counts 
Palatine had obtained, as far back as the eleventh century 
(399, IX.), the hereditary sovereignty and its dependent prin- 
cipalities, which they augmented with the county of Ziveibr'it- 
ckcn and the city of Heidelberg. Frederic II. gave the Pala- 
tinate to Louis of Bavaria, and it remained undivided with 
Bavaria until 1329, when the Emperor Louis IV. of Bavaria, 
in the treaty of Pavia, conferred it on the sons and relatives 
of his brother. The electoral dignity was attached to the 
Rhein Pfalz, whose Count was invested with the judiciary 
power of the empire in case of absence of the Emperor. 
Though divided into four lines, the Palatinate was considered 
as a united state. These lines were, I., the Electorate on 
THE Rhine — Kur-Rliein. II., Sulzbach, or JJpper Palati- 
nate, established by Count John, whose son, Christopher, be- 
came King of the Calmarian Union, 1439-1448 (438, 444), 
when his lands fell back to the Electorate. III., Sijimern, 
with the counties Vcldenz and Spanheim, on the Rhine, 
north of the Electorate. Mossbach, on the Neckar, in Soua- 
bia, became extinct with Count Otho II., and reverted in 
1499 to .the Electorate.-" 

521. Cities and Battle-fields in the Rhine-Province. 
— Heidelberg, in a magnificent site on the Neckar, was the 
capital of the Electors. Germerslieim, on the Rhine, where 
King Rudolph of Habsburg expired, 30th Sept., 1291. At 
Gellheim, west of Worms, was fought the fierce equestrian 
battle, July 2, 1293, in which Albert I. of Austria, with his 
lance, unhorsed and slew his rival, Adolph of Nassau, and thus 
conquered the German crown. In the Upper Palatinate — 
Sulzbach, Leucldenberg, and Amberg. Trausnitz, a gloomy 
castle, where Frederic the Handsome of Austria was kept as 
a prisoner of war after the great battle at Amfingen, in Sept., 
1322; here, too, the noble-minded victor, Louis of Bavaria, 
visited and embraced his fallen enemy, and ofi"ered him to 
share the imperial dignity. Hiltersried, southeast of Traus- 
nitz, at the foot of the Bohmer-Wald, the battle-field on which 
the Count Palatine John, in 1433, gained thej^/'s/! victory over 
the Hussite fanatics of Bohemia. The Palatinate was one of 
the most fertile and best cultivated regions of Germany, not- 
withstanding the ravages of war it suiTered at diflerent times. 
Such was the condition of the seven Electorates about 1453 : 
we shall now proceed to describe the Duchies. 

522. The German Empire comprised also one archduchy, 
that of Austria, and eighteen duchies : 1, Styria ; 2, Car- 
niola; 3, Carinthia ; 4, Bavaria; 5, Wiirtemberg, 6, Lor- 
raine ; 7, Luxemburg ; 8, Limburg ; 9, Brabant ; 10, 
Guelders ; 11, Cleves ; 12, Jidick ; 13, Berg; I i, B runs- 
vie- Lilnebicrg ; 15, Holstein, with Stormarn ; 16, Saxe- 
Lauenbiirg ; 17, Mecldenburg ; and 18, Fomerania. 

523. VIII. Austria, under the Habsburg Dynasty. — 
Frederic Barbarossa had raised the Marca-Orientalis — Oes- 
terrich — into an Archduchy (399, VIII.), which remained in 
the possession of the house of Babenberg (396, IX.) until its 
extinction in 1246. During the disorders of the interregnum 

-" The remaining Simmern ]ine became united with Kur-Rhein tin- 
der the unhappy Elector-Palatine Frederic V., in 1620, wlio, having 
been induced by the Protestant party, then in arms against Austria, 
to accept the crown of Bohemia, was defeated by General Tilly, on 
the WhiteMount, near Prague, and expelled from his dominions. These, 
with the electoral dignity, were then, by Emperor Ferdinand II., 
awarded to Bavaria, with wliom all the Upper Palatinate and part 
of the Pfcheiiish province, remain at the present day. 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. AUSTRIA. 



which followed on the death of Frederic II. of Hohenstaufen, 
King Ottocar Przemysl of Bohemia occupied Austria, Cariu- 
thia, Cavniola and Styria, but in his struggle to maintain his 
conquest against the newly-elected Emperor of Germany, Ru- 
dolph of Habsburg, he lost his crown and his life in the battle 
at Stillfried in 1278, and Rudolph invested his sons Albert 
and Rudolph with the sovereignty of the conquered territories, 
which thenceforth remained the very centre and strength of 
the Habsburg dominions."^' 

The eminent services rendered by Rudolph I. for the in- 
ternal tranquillity and reorganization of the empire had gained 
him the confidence and esteem of princes and people, and the 
German States did not object to his laying the foundation of 
a vast hereditary power. Yet the fear of Austi-ian supremacy 
soon became universal, and the Habsburg family was for more 
than a century — 1 308-1438 — excluded from the succession, in 
spite of their strenuous exertions to recover their lost soYier- 
cignty. The Luxemburg (248, 39G) and Wittelsbach (398, 
VI.) families occupied the imperial throne, and extended their 
dominion temporarily even over Bohemia, Hungary, and Bran- 
denburg ; yet Austrian politics, intrigues, and skilful marriage 
combinations prevailed at last, and with the active reign of 
Emperor Maximilian I. Austria obtained a permanent in- 
fluence, not only on the affairs of Germany, but on the entire 
political system of modern Europe, by the wonderful union of 
Germany, Burgundy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Italy, under 
the sceptre of the Habsburger Charles V.'^' 

Frederic III. reigned during an age of extraordinary 
events — when the European world was verging toward a tran- 
scendant change in social, intellectual, and commercial rela- 
tions. Yet, though he dared not draw his sword against the 
Ottoman power and save Constantinople, and he himself was 
so poor and penniless as scarcely to be able to protect himself 
against his own seditious Austrian subjects, he nevertheless 
laid the profoundest plans for the future grandeur of his house, 

^'•"' Rudolph of Habsburg, the ancestor of the Austrian dynasty 
(1218-1291), held that title from the castle and county of Habsburg — 
Habichtsburff, or Hawks Castle — on the Aar, in the Aar-Gau of the 
ancient duchy of Souabia. In 1264 he succeeded to the inheritance of 
his maternal uncle, the Count of Kyhurg, which included the greater 
part of the Aar-Gau and portions of the upper lands in Burgundia 
Minor (Switzerland), Kyhurg, Baden, Lenzhurg, Zofingen, Gruningen, 
Freiburg, and Luzerne, the two latter of which afterwards became free 
Cantons under the Swiss Confederacy. Eudolph obtained besides the 
advocacy or protectorship of the Wald&Uldte, or Forest Cantons on the 
lake of Lucerne, which, together with the Ziihriugen estates and rights in 
Alsace, formed a considerable territory, though by no means equal to 
that of the great electoral princes of Germany. All the lands in Soua- 
bia and Burgundy were afterwards lost to the Habsburgers on the rise 
of the free-born mountaineei's against their tyrannical exactions. 

239 GENEALOGY OF THE HABSBURG DYNASTY. 

Albert the Wise, 
Court of Habsburg 1 1260. 



EirDOLPH, C. of H., Landgrave of 

Alsace, King (Emperor) of Germany. 

12T3— 1291. 



Albert I., 
Emperor, 1298-180S. 



i'VerZerie the Handsome, ira/)oM the Flower of Knighthood, Albert the Contracted, 
defeated at Amliugen, 1322. defeated at Morgarten. 1315. 1 1358. 



viZSeri with the Cue, 
Archduke of Austria, 
+ 1395. 



Albert, 1 1404. 

Albert II., 
King of Hungary, 1437, 
and of Bohemia, 1438, 
EnJperor, 143S-1439. 



Leopold the Brave, 

Duke of Souabia, 

slain at Sempach, 

1386. 



Frederic, 
tl439. 



Sigismnnd, Count of 
Tyrol, 1 1496 



Waldislaw, 

King of Hungary 

and Bohemia, 

tl45T. 



Wolfgang 



Ernest, Iron-heart, 
1 1424. 

f KEnERio III., with 

the Empty Pocket, 

Emperor, 

1440-1493. 



Maximilian I. 



Chakles V. 



whose second founder he may be called, since he left their for" 
tunes incomparably more prosperous than they had been at 
his accession.-^" 

524. The archduchy was then, as now, divided into, 1. Aus- 
tria above the Ens on the West, and II. Austria below the 
Ens on the East. Vienna (Wien), the capital, though still 
small in extent, was already a beautiful city, surrounded by 
admirable fortifications, and considered as the bulwark of 
Eastern Germany. Many splendid Gothic buildings adorned 
the inner city. The gigantic cathedral of Saint Stephen, one 
of the largest and loftiest churches of German architecture in 
the world, was erected in 1114, a standing memorial of the 
excellent taste, skilful workmanship, and wealth of the Aus- 
trian nation. It was then situated without the range of the 
city walls ; but Vienna increased rapidly, from the mercantile 
advantages of its situation on the Danube, and the liberal 
municipal laws and regulations granted to the citizens by Duke 
Albert with the Cue. A flourishing University was estab- 
lished there in 1365, and the lively and luxurious Viennese 
began early to adopt foreign fashions and habits, by the fre- 
qent intermarriages of their princes with French princesses, 
who soon transformed Vienna into the most jovial, sociable, 
and sensual city in Germany. The great Hungarian King 
Matthias Corvinus, taking revenge on Frederic III. for his 
breach of faith, attacked and took Vienna in 1485, and re- 
sided there quite comfortably until his death in 1490, when 
the city was restored to Austria. At Stillfried, a village on 
the Marchfield, north of the Danube, the decisive battle was 
fought between Rudolph of Habsburg and King Ottocar Prze- 
mysl of Bohemia, August 26, 1278, in whioh the latter was 
defeated and killed, and Rudolph secured the possession of 
the Austrian lands. Guttenstein, a beautiful castle in the 
Wieiter Wald, southwest of Vienna, was the retreat of the 
unhappy Frederic the Handsome, who died there in 1330. 
Neuburg, Tidn, Molk, with a magnificent Benedictine convent, 
and Linz, were populous and commercial cities on the Danube; 
in the latter died Frederic III, in 1493, 

525. To Austria belonged the duchies of Styria (Steyer- 
mark), Carinthia (Karnthen), Carniola (Krain), and the 
Counties of Tyrol (Terioli) andGoRZ (Gorizia). The former 
duchies had, according to the custom of the times, been given 
to the younger lines of the Habsburg House ; but they reverted 
to the Archducal crown during the fifteenth century. The 
county of Tyrol, situated among the highest Alps, on the fron- 
tiers of Lombardy, was inhabited by a poor but brave and in- 
dustrious people of hunters and herdsmen, who through the 
storms of the middle ages had preserved their national inde- 
pendence, and forced the nobles possessing castles on the 
mountains to grant them their votes in the public assemblies 
and a liberal administration of justice.-" Inspruck (Bridge 
on the Inn), then a small village, belonged, together with other 
settlements in the valley of the Inn, to the Counts of Andechs 
(396, XL) Those of Meran, on the junction of the Adige 

^■i" It was the timid and almost invisible Frederic III. who adopted 
the proud device of Austria, A. E. 0. I. U., on his plate, books, and 
buildings, and left it to his sagacious successors to interpret the running 
vowels into : 

A^istria T? St T mperare f) rbi TT niverso 

lies ^ rdreiclh -*- sJ ^ esterreicli ^ nterthan 

That is : Austria is to rule the whole world ! "A bold assimiption," 
says Hallam, " for a man who was not safe in an inch of his do- 
minions ! " 

^■^ The Tyrolians served as a model for the most civilized nations iu 
Europe by their bravery, the purity of their morals, their honesty an<s 
piety, — and they still enjoy this honorable character at the present 
day. 



174 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. BAVARIA— WUERTEMBERG. 



and the Passaycv were the most powerful nobles in Tyrol. 
The Countess Margaret Maultasch (with the large Mouth), 
the heiress of Tyrol, being very unsteady in her affections, 
gave her different husbands a good deal of trouble. After 
discarding her first husband, the Bohemian Prince John 
Henry, the tender lady married Louis, the Bavarian, Margrave 
of Brandenburg (515), who taking possession of Tyrol, as 
the estate of his wife, and carrying his arms into Carinthia 
a,nd Carniola, attempted to outflank Austria on its most ex- 
posed frontier. But Margaret, becoming soon tired of her 
bluff" Bavarian, counteracted all his plans of aggrandizement, 
and transferred her rich inheritance to Rudolph IV., Duke of 
AiTstria, in 1363. The Bavarian Dukes now flew to arms, 
and a civil war ensued ; but in the treaty of Schdrding, in 
1369, they gave up their pretensions to the county for oue 
hundred and sixteen thousand florins, and Tyrol remained 
thenceforth attached to Austria. It belonged, however, to the 
collateral lines until Duke Sigismund in 1489 ceded it to the 
Emperor Maximilian, who thus by the acquisition of G-5ez 
with Gradisca, Millerbaxh, and the Puster-Y&Wej, united all 
the Austrian dominions directly under the crown in A. D. 
1500. 

526. The duchy of Styria is the most picturesr^ue and 
romantic region of Germany ; its scenery presents a contin- 
uous alternation of lofty peaks, fearful precipices, flowery 
meadows, lovely valleys with rushing waterfalls, deep glassy 
lakes, castles, convents, and charming villages, inhabited by the 
stout, industrious and hospitable Steyerniarkers. Carinthia 
derives its wealth from its rich copper and iron mines. The 
Duchies were early peopled by the Slavic tribes of the Slo- 
venzi and Vendili — Vendes — intermixed with the colonies of 
Avars, whom Charlemagne transported to Carinthia (178, 179), 
while in Styria the Germans, in course of time, superseded the 
Sclavonians. The principal cities were Gr.ez, with a large for- 
tress on the river Mur, Klagenfurt, Villach, and Laybach. 
Trieste was still the only Austrian port on the Mediter- 
ranean. Mariazell, in Styria, in a most romantic site, became 
a celebrated place of pilgrimage. Louis of Anjou, King of 
Hungary and Poland, built there the fine church and convent, 
in which he deposited the image of the holy Virgin, by whose aid 
be believed himself to have been saved in the nocturnal battle 
on Mount Haemus, in 1 362, in which the Polish and Hungarian 
army was defeated by the Ottoman Turks. Thousands of 
pilgrims from every part of the Austrian states still visit every 
year that beautiful spot. Cilley, near the Save, with a strong- 
castle of Roman origin — the ancient Celeja — was the resi- 
dence of the proud Counts of Cilly (Cilley), who, as border- 
wardens, were intrusted with the defence of the frontiers 
against the iucursions of the Hungarians, but often drew their 
swords against the Austrian Dukes themselves. The Counts 
of Cilly obtained large possessions in Sdavonia and Croatia^ 
and thus became feudatories of the Angevin Kings of Hun- 
gary, where their mortal hate against the noble family of the 
Hunyads caused the most fearful revolutions, and became the 
main cause of the downfall of that country and the inauspicious 
success of the Ottoman arms on the Danube. 

527. IX. The duchy of Bavaria (Bayern). This exten- 
sive principality, still more enlarged by the Palatinate on the 
Rhine, parts of Franconia and the Nordgau, north of the 
Danube and bordering on Bohemia, had suffered the fate of 
Austria in becoming weakened, and having its development 
retarded by continual divisions in the Wittelsbach dynasty. 
The natural conseriuence of these endless partitions were civil 
feuds and open wars among the contending lines, or between 
the cities, clergy and nobles, who had almost the wliole power 



of government in their hands. The Emperor Louis IV. of 
Upper Bavaria — 1313-1347 — sustained successfully the war 
with Austria, and the great victory of the Bavarians at Amp- 
fingcn is the most glorious and interesting event in the annals 
of that nation. It was then the era of chivalry, poetry and 
art, which has been revived in the master-pieces of painting, 
sculpture and architecture now adorning Munich, the modern 
Athens of Germany. Louis, with all his faults, was an able 
and active monarch, a true Bavarian. He raised Munich to 
an imperial residence, revised the laws, encouraged agriculture 
and industry, by abolishing the serfdom of the peasantry and 
enlarging the privileges and municipal institutions of the towns. 
Yet he divided the Duchy among his sons, andthus/o?M- sove- 
reign states sprung up in 1349, which, toward the close of the 
Middle Ages, were reduced to two. These were — I. Bayern- 
Straubing, on the Danube, with the cities Straubing and 
Deggendorf. II. Bayern-Landshut, on the east, bordering 
on Austria, and the Archiepiscopal See of Salzburg, with the 
capital Landshut on the Isar. Amjingen, on the Inn, where 
on the 28th September, 1322, one of the most sanguinary 
battles of tlie Middle Ages was fought between the entire chi- 
valry of Austria and Bavaria. The shock of some fifty thou- 
sand steel-clad horsemen, in serious tournament, was fearful ; 
the battle-field was already covered with heaps of slain, men 
and horses, still the fury of the combatants did not relax, 
when, toward sunset, the Bavarian rear-guard, commanded by 
the Burghgraf of Nlirnberg, with Austrian banners spread, 
wheeled full in the flank of the astonished Frederic of Aus- 
tria, and completed the rout. Frederic, falling with his steed, 
was carried a prisoner to the Emperor Louis, the friend and 
companion of his youth. The Austrians lost twenty thousand 
warriors, and the imperial crown remained with Bavaria. •^' 
III. Bayern Muenchen, west of the former, with the new 
capital Munich (Miinchen), on the Isar. Fiirstenfelde. west 
of Munich, where, on the Kaisertviese, or Emperor's Meadow, 
Louis, the Bavarian, while hunting a bear, fell from his horse 
and expired on the spot, the llth Oct., 1347. IV. Bayern 
Ingoldstadt, one part of which lay west of the former, with 
Ingoldstadt and Neuburg. on the Danube, and the other, south- 
east at the foot of the Alps, embracing the beautiful valley of 
the Ziller-Thcd. Cities were : Rattenburg and the fortress 
Kuf stein. Hellenstedt, Gievgen, and Kirchberg belonged 
likewise to Bayern Ingoldstadt. 

528. X. The duchy of Wuertemberg arose out of the dis- 
memberment of the Hohenstaufen duchy of Souabia, on the 
death of the young Conradino at Naples, 1 268. Among the 
many small barons who then became independent, was the 
brave Souabian Knight, Ulric with the Thumb, who, by per- 
severance and skill, united the most valuable estates of central 
Souabia. Fortune smiled on his descendants, who soon got 
the better of the smaller proprietors, and by continual feuds 
against nobles and cities, enlarged their property. They were 
a haughty and ferocious race ; and Souabia presented, during 
the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the dismal scenes of 



^" Here again the Austrians were too slow. Leopold with his 
Soujtbian chivalry were detained at the convent of Furstenfelde, enjoy- 
ing the strong wines of the monks, while the battle was at its height. 
His timely arrival Avould, no doubt, have turned the scale of for- 
tune. Yet the old Bavarian General Siegfried Schwepperman, who 
commanded in chief, took advantage of this negligence to execute his 
stratagem. It is related that the victorious Bavarian army after the 
battle were witliout anj^ provisions, having merely a small supply of 
eggs, which on being distributed among them, left but one for each 
man. The Emperor Louis on hearing this, exclaimed : "Well, give to 
every warrior his egg, but to the brave Schwepperman give two ! " as 
a proof that to him alone was due tlie honor of the victory. 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. GEEMAN DUCHIES. 



175 



war and devastation. Count Eberhard had for his motto, 
God's friend^ and every body's enemy. At the diet at Spires, 
held by the Emperor Henry VII., of Luxemburg, on his ac- 
cession in 1306, Eberhard of Wiirtemberg appeared in full 
armor, with a suite of two hundred horse. Without dismount- 
ing he proudly gave the declaration that he was nobody's vas- 
sal, and rode off again without saluting the Emperor. The 
insupportable arrogance of these Counts, and the public rob- 
beries they often permitted on the high roads against the tra- 
velling merchants, forced the citizens, with the assistance of 
the Swiss, to form the Souabian Alliance of thirty-four cities. 
The war broke out during the reign of Charles IV. of Bohemia. 
Yet, though the stout mountaineers of Switzerland defeated 
and slew Duke Leopold of Austria, with all his glittering chi- 
valry, at Sempach, in 1386, the train-bands of armed burghers 
from the Souabian cities were still unable to withstand the 
flower of the nobility in the open field, and Count Eberhard 
routed them with great slaughter at Doffingen, west of Stutt- 
gart. But those brave and persevering men did not lose cour- 
age ; they fortified their towns ; they broke many castles of 
the nobles ; they sought their refuge in the artillery, which 
they improved by new inventions, and the Niirnbergers be- 
came the best artillerymen in Germany. A general peace — 
Landfnede — was concluded in April, 1389, but the hostile 
relations Ibetween the free imperial cities and the nobility, con- 
tinued until the reign of Maximilian, at the close of the fif- 
teenth century. Stuttgart, the capital of the duchy, was 
built during this period, in the middle of a fruitful valley, 
surrounded by hills and vineyards, on the banks of the Neseu- 
bach. Heimsheim^ Weil, and Tubingen, in the latter of 
which was erected the Souabian University, in 1477, after the 
model of that of Bologna, in Italy. Count Eberhard VI., dis- 
tinguished himself favorably from the other princes of his war- 
like race ; he extended the rights of the cities ; called their de- 
puties together for consultation, and was indefatigable in pro- 
moting the happiness and welfare of his people. He was 
highly esteemed by the Euiperor Maximilian, who, at the diet 
at -Worms, on the 21st July, 1495, conferred on him the title 
of Duke of Wiirtemberg. The small county oi Mmnjoelgard, 
on the frontiers of the Franche-Comte, south of Lorraine, be- 
longed to the duchy. 

529. XI. The duchy of Lorraine still remained attached 
to the Empire. Yet the vicinity of France, and the pretensions 
of its intriguing Kings, afforded opportunity for the Lorraine 
nobility to arrogate extensive privileges to themselves, whilst 
the influence of a higher civilization in France, and the chivalrous 
manners of the times, gradually alienated the Lorrainers from 
the mother country. The feudal relations continued, but the 
Dukes became intimately allied to France by marriage, and the 
acquisition of French territories, such as the duchy of Bar with 
lordships of .ToUiville and Bassirnj, which obliged them to fol- 
low the banner of the French Kings.'^^ We have already re- 
lated how Lorraine, by marriage, fell to Duke Rene of Anjou, 
in 1430 (503), the conquest of the duchy by Charles the 
Rash, of Burgundy, and its re-occupation by the younger 
Duke Rene, after the defeat and death of Charles, at Nancy 

''^'Tbis connectiou of the Dukes with France, under the crown of 
which they held the above mentioned fiefs, involved them in the dis- 
putes, foreign and domestic, of that kingdom. Raoul, Duke of Lor- 
raine, fell in the battle of Creci, in 1346, fighting with Philip of Valois, 
against the English, and John, his son and successor, was taken prison- 
er at the battle of Poitiers, in 1356. The same fate awaited that chi- 
valrous Prince at the battle of Auray, in Bretagne, in which Charles 
of Blois was defeated and slain by John of Montfort (460). The Duke 
John of Lorraine, was also present at the battle of Rosbecque, in which 
Charles VL worsted the Flemings, in 1382 (457). 



(495). From that time began the insidious attempts of 
Louis XI. and his successors, to extend their posessions to- 
ward the Rhine, though they did not completely succeed until 
1766, when, after the death of Stanislaus, Lorraine was incor- 
porated with France, to which it has ever since remained at- 
tached. It was the case with Lorraine as with Alsace. The 
nobility took up French notions, while the mass of the people 
remained German, both in language and manners. The epis- 
copal cities, Metz, Toul, and Verdun, with their territories, 
were independent of the Dukes, and ranged directly under 
Germany. These relations caused the most violent feuds be- 
tween the Bishops and the Dukes, and the former appeared 
often in full armor at the head of their vassals, to fight the 
battles of the Church. The cities, Nancy, Limeville, Espi- 
7ial, Remire?no7it, and Fal/.-enbcrg, were kept in great subjec- 
tion, and they did not participate in those liberal institutions 
by which the cities of Lower 1 orraine (the Netherlands) had 
become flourishing long before the close of the thirteenth cen- 
tury. Duke John I. instituted, in 1380, a_ high tribunal for 
the states and regular diets — les grands jotrrs — where depu- 
ties from the cities attended. 

530. XII.-XIV. The duchies Luxemburg (with Lim- 
burg), Brabant, and Guelder s, became incorporated with 
the states of Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy (497), and 
passed, after the battle of Nancy, to Maximilian of Austria, 
with the hand of Mary of Burgundy, in 1484. The cities, 
ZiUjihcn, Harclewyk, and Venlo, belonged to the Hanseatic 
Confederation (403) ; they rose later to wealth and power 
than those of Brabant and Flanders, but they formed their 
own armed union for the protection of their privileges, and 
enjoyed an almost republican independence. 

531. XV. The duchy of Cleves (Kleve), on the Lower 
Rhine, between Guelders and Cologne, was a small county, 
which, during the reign of its distinguished Count Adolph I., 
— 1394-1448 — was raised to the dignity of a duchy, by the 
Emperor Wenceslaus, in 1417. Adolph was alike eminent 
as warrior, statesman, and savant; he became the founder of 
several of the rather pedantic societies of those days of de- 
clining chivalry ; such as the Fools' Fratcrvity, and the 
Knights of the Rose-wreath and of the Horse-comb ; but the 
sense of justice of the Duke of Cleves is commemorated 
by a fine sentence, expressive of his integrity in an era of 
deceit and corruption.-''* This, however, 'did not hinder him 
from being engaged in violent disputes and bloody feuds with 
the Archbishops of Cologne. 

532. XVI. The duchy of Juelich-Berg formed, earlier, 
two counties, the former of which was situated between the 
Meuse and the Rhine, and the latter on the eastern bank of 
that river, were separated by the ecclesiastical territory of 
the Elector and Archbishop of Cologne. They were united 
by Count William, whom the Emperor Wenceslaus, in 1389, 
raised to the ducal rank. Berg had already obtained the 
important county of Ravensberg, in Westphalia. On the 
extinction of the ducal dynasty, in 1524, with Duke William 
III., his daughter Mary brought the two duchies to her hus- 
band, John, Prince of Cleves. They belong, at present, to 
the King of Prussia. Cities were : Juelich, Kerpen, and 
Ileinsbwrg, in Berg ; Dusseldorf on the Rhine, and Elberfeld 
on the Wipper. Aix-la-Chapelle (Achen), between Line- 

"" Sein Nein war Nein gerechtig, 

Sein Ja war Ja vollmaditig, 

Sein Mund, sein Grund, eintraditig. 
The translation of which is : " His No was as just as his Yes was pow- 
erful, and his word and heart always in unison." 



176 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. GERMAN PRINCIPALITIES. 



burg and Jiilich, was still considered as the imperial capital, 
and its territory was called the Realm of Achen. 

533. XVII. The Duchy of Bkunswick-Luenebueg, on the 
western bank of the Elbe, consisted of the Allodial estates re- 
maining in possession of the Welfic House after the downfall 
of Henry the Lion, in 1 180 (398). The continual partitions in 
the Welfic dynasties of Brunswick and Liiueburg, furnished 
their vassals and cities with means of resistance ; the latter, 
as members of the Hanseatic League, rose to a comparative 
independence, and the city of Limebicrg became wealthy by 
her commerce and productive saltworks, which almost exclu- 
sively provided the North with that indispensable article. 

XVIII. The Duchy (formerly county) of Holstein and 
Stormarn, with the lordship of Finnebers (belonging to the 
lateral line of the Counts of Schaumburg), had passed to the 
crown of Denmark, as a German fief, on the accession of Count 
Christian I. of Oldenburg, in 1459. The Ditmarskers, on 
the western coast of Holstein, formed still an independent 
republic, under the supremacy of the archiepiscopal see of 
Bremen. Heicle was their principal city. 

XIX. The Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg formed a small 
territory on the right bank of the Elbe, between the free 
imperial cities of Hamburg and Liibeck, and the Duchy of 
Mecklenburg. The hostility of its dukes with the dispossessed 
Welfs beyond the river, and the preponderating power of the 
Hanseatic republics in the neighborhood, enveloped this small 
state in continual feuds, which obstructed its extension. 

534. , XX. The Duchy of Mecklenburg, on the Baltic, 
bordered eastward on Pomerania, south on Brandenburg, and 
west on Holstein. After the defeat of King Waldemar II., 
in 1227, the Lords of Mecklenburg returned to the allegiance 
of the Empire. Among the many petty dynasties, those of 
Mecklenburg, Werle, and Rostock were the principal. Count 
Albert inherited Schwerin, and obtained the ducal dignity 
from the Emperor Charles IV., in 1348. The duchy, never- 
theless, became split into the two- dynasties of Stargard and 
Schwerin, until its provincial states afterwards met iu as- 
sembly, in 1503, and demanded a joint administration and 
government. Mecklenburg resembles Denmark : it consists 
of extensive plains, abounding in forests and lakes ; many 
tracts are sandy and incult ; but the inhabitants are a stout, 
industrious race, who rear cattle, and horses of great strength 
and swiftness. Rostock and Wismar became important mem- 
bers of the Hanse ; in the former a university was established 
in 1418, the first attempt to introduce a higher education in 
Northern Germany. Schtverin, on the lake, Mecklenburg, 
Giistrow, Stargard, and Sfrelitz, in the interior, were the 
capitals of the difi"erent lines of Mecklenburg princes. 

535. XXI. The Duchy of Pomerania, east of Mecklen- 
burg, extended along the shores of the Baltic, and was sepa- 
rated from Poland by the great border forest and Pomerellen 
(380). On the downfall of the Danish Monarchy (378), the 
Margraves of Brandenburg claimed the supremacy over the 
coast, and their devastating incursions continued until Bugislas 
X. the Great united the separate principalities under his ducal 
Bceptre, in 1479. This enlightened and able prince secured 
the internal tranquillity and prosperity of Pomerania by an 
energetic administration, and by granting the states a liberal 
participation in the legislation. Though the soil is sandy 
and marshy, and the atmosphere humid and obscured by fogs, 
yet the southern missionaries, who preached Christianity 
among the heathen Vendes, succeeded in cultivating the 



vine.'-''" The natives were praised for their honest and straight- 
forward character, mixed, however, with some Pomeranian 
rudeness. The duchy was divided into the principalities of 
Wolgast, Stettin, and Ritgen, and the lordships Lauenberg 
and Butotc, on the frontiers of Poland. Wolgast, situated 
on the strait that separates the continent from the island of 
Usedom, was the residence of the dukes, and the picturesque 
ruins of their ancient castle still rise above the old walls of 
the city. Stralsund, in the north, opposite to the island of 
Riigen, with a spacious harbor, and surrounded by lakes and 
marshy defiles, was considered as one of the strongest places 
in Europe, and has victoriously stood many a siege. Stettin, 
on the deep ofiing of the Oder, was, like Stralsund, a distin- 
guished member of the Confederacy of the Hanse, during the 
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Greifswcilde, with the mag- 
nificent church of Saint Nicholas, and a university founded in 
1456, which spread light and learning through the North, when 
the great Bugislas, on his return from a pilgrimage to Jeru- 
salem, brought the famous Petrus Ravennas along with him 
from Italy. Under such a professor Greifswalde became the 
oracle throughout all Slavia, and students flocked together to 
study there the literature and philosophy of reviving antiquity. 
The island of Ruegen was ceded by Denmark in the year 
1325 ; and there German civilization extirpated, in less than 
a century, every trace of the language and superstitions of 
the ancient Vendes. 

536. The Principalities — Far stent hiimer — of Germany 
were two : Anhalt and Nassau. 

XXII. The Principality of Anhalt is situated on the an- 
cient Siievegaii, on the east of Mount Hartz and west of the 
Elbe. The Ascanian dynasty of Anhalt, one of the oldest in 
Germany, claimed Wittikind, the Saxon (174), for their 
founder.-''* Beruhard, the son of Albert the Bear (396, III.), 
inherited the Ascanian lands, but remained much circumscrib- 
ed by the encroachments of the Welfic princes, until the dis- 
memberment of the duchy of Saxony in 1180, when part of 
the territory was annexed to the bishoprics of Magdeburg and 
Halberstadt, Several divisions took place, but the lines of 
Aschersleben (Ascania), Bernburg and Zerbst were at last 
united in 1570 by Prince Joachim Ernest, the ancestor of the 
pi-esent ducal houses. Dessau, a beautiful city on the Mtdda, 
Aschersleben and Ballenstedt^ were the ancient seats of the 
counts. 

537. XXIII. The Principality of Nassau, on the eastern 
bank of the Rhine, between Cologne and Mainz, took its name 
from the ancient castle of Nassau, on the river Lulm, the 
early seat of its counts. They descended from the imperial 
dynasty of the Salians (396), and many illustrious statesmen 

'^*° Otho, Bishop of Bamberg, the Apostle of Pomerania, planted the 
vine in his convent gardens there, in 1128, and administered the native 
wine to his converts. At that period, laymen as well as ecclesiastics 
partook of the communion in l)oth kinds. With Christianit}', the vine 
was transplanted to the north, even so far as the Danish Islands in the 
Baltic. No doubt the difficulty of obtaining wine in those remote re- 
gions otherwise than b}^ commei-ce — often interrupted by war and piracy 
— iTave rise to the custom of communicating in one kind. "Thus," says 
a German philosopher, "necessity brought about, a sophism, by which 
the most solemn of all institutions founded by the Author of Chris- 
tianity was changed." 

^'° Flattering genealogists have attempted to trace the origin of the 
Counts of Ascania from certain tribes in Asia Minor, who might have 
quitted the marshes of Ascania, in Bithynia, and settled in the ancient 
forests of Germany. The truth seems to be, that the origin of that 
family can be traced back as far as the eighth century, and that they 
were related to the Counts of Ballenstedt, who lived in the eleventh 
centui'y. They are at present divided into three ducal branches, those 
of Anhalt-Dessan, Anhalt-Bernbura, and Anhalt-Katheii. 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. GERMANY. 



177 



and warriors have sprung from that family, though their terri- 
tory was too small to have any political influence. It formed 
two lines, the Lauremburgian and the Gheldrian, whose es- 
tates were divided by the river Lahn. The Emperor Adolph 
of Nassau — 1293-1298 — belonged to the former ; but his 
early fall in the battle of Gellheim (511) arrested the aggran- 
dizement of his race. His son John I., the founder of the 
present Weilburg line, acquired the county of Saarbriick, 
beyond the Rhine, and obtained the princely dignity from 
Charles IV., that imperial dispenser of titles and ceremo- 
nies."' WiSBADEN, the capital, at the base of Mount Taunus, 
encompassed by romantic and beautiful scenery, and adorned 
with Roman ruins and mediaeval castles, was built around the 
famous thermal springs which were already much frequented by 
the ancient conquerors of the world. Weilburg, Lauremburg 
and Nassau, on the Lahn. Rudesheim, on the Rhine, still 
better known on account of its delicious wines, the Riides- 
heimer. Setters, north of the Taunus, at the Selter-springs, 
whose strong mineral waters attracted pilgrims from far and 
near. 

538. XXIV. The Margraviate of Baden, on the eastern 
bank of the Rhine, had earlier belonged to the noble family 
of Zahringen (396, VIII.) After its extinction, in 1218, 
the lands were divided among many inheritors, but the 
Margrave Bernhard united them again, about the year 1430, 
and, though enveloped in feuds with prelates and nobles, he 
transmitted them augmented, with the castles of Hochberg, 
Grafenstein and others, to his successor James, Duke of Baden, 
in 1453. Rastadt, on the Murg, was the capital of the Mar- 
graves. Ba'aden, Freiburg. Old-Breisach on the Rhine, 
Durlach and Selz. At Sinsheim, Margrave Charles I. was 
taken prisoner by the Count Palatine of the Rhine in a bloody 
battle in 1462. Sausenhirg, Roteln and Badenweiler were 
later acquisitions of Christopher of Baden in 1503. 

539. XXV. The Landgraviate of Alsace — Elsass — on the 
western bank of the Rhine, belonged to the ancient duchy of 
Alemania (175, 250). It was divided into the Landgraviates 
of Sund (Siid)- Gau and Nord-gau, the former was held by 
the Bishop of Strassburg, and the latter by the Counts of 
Habsburg (523). Duke Albert mortgaged Alsace, in 1455, 
to Charles the Rash of Burgundy, and it was the revolting 
cruelty and arrogance of his bailiff, Peter von Hagenbach, 
which caused the insurrection of the tormented Alsacers, the 
subsequent rupture with the Swiss, and the downfall of the 
Burgundian supremacy. Strassburg (71, XVI), the episcopal 
see, was a free town of the empire since 1 236, important by its 
extensive commerce on the Rhine and Italy. Its magnificent 
cathedral was built by the architect, Erwin Steinbach, who 
raised the celebrated steeple tower in 1277, but left the 
completion of the gigantic building to bis descendants."^* 
Muhllbausen was a free town under the protection of the Swiss. 

540. XXVI. The Landgraviate of Hesse belonged to the 
duchy of Eranconia (249, 398), under its own counts, who 
were raised to the rank of Landgraves by the Emperor Adolph 
of Nassau in 1292. In Hesse arose those singular confrater- 

'''" The family of Nassaic- Orange, at present seated on the throne of 
Holland, descend from the more ancient Gheldrian (Othonian) line, and 
the sovereign dukes of Weilburg-Nassav, therefore acknowledge their 
seniority of rank. 

''^ The Steinbachs with tlieir master-architects, masons, stone-cut- 
ters and other mechanics, formed a regular armed and well-organizd 
guild or corporation whicli excluded all competitors, and continued for 
several generations to build on the immense church ; it stands still un- 
finished, and seems dedicated to all time. 

23 



nities of the nobles against the free cities, which were called 
by the most absurd names : tlie Horned Brotherhood, the 
Comq^amj of the Star, the Lion, the Fish, the Red Sleeves, and 
tlbe Turnips ; yet, in spite of their high crests and armor 
of proof, they were severely beaten by the well drilled bands 
of the republican citizens. Such a defeat of the nobility was 
that at Reutlingen, where Ulric of Wurtemberg and a great 
number of counts and barons were slain. The reigning line of 
the Upper-Landgraviate resided in Cassel; while that of the 
Lower occupied Marburg. All Hesse became united, a. d. 
1500, by William the Middle, and his son Philip the Generous, 
who, standing boldly forward in opposition to popery and 
Spanish despotism, fought the great battle of the intellectual 
and political independence of Germany. 

541. XXVII. The Burgraviate of Nuernberg, in the Nord- 
gau (392), was held by the Counts of Hohenzollern. The elder 
line possessed Sigmaringen, Vohringen, and Hachingev, (in 
1850 sold to Prussia), and remained in a^ certain dependency 
on the duchy of Wurtemberg. The younger line, on the con- 
trary, was enabled by inheritance, imperial favor, and laud- 
able economy, to form a sovereign principality, consisting of 
Baireuth (Culmbach) and Ansbach (Onolsbach), which by 
Burgrave Frederic IV. was united to Mark Brandenburg 
(517). His son Albert became Grand Master of the Teu- 
tonic Order, and the founder of the Prussian Power in 1 525 
(453). 

542. XXVIII. The number of the Counts, who with the 
title of princes, held their territories immediately from the 
empire, were thirty-nine or forty, the most important of whom 
were the following : In Saxony, the Counts of Oldenburg and 
Delmenhorst, since 1448 Kings of Denmark, Sweden, and Nor- 
way ; those of Hoya, Lippe, Teckelnburg, Bentthem, Schau- 
ENBURG, and RiETBERG : in Central Germany, the Counts of 
Waldeck, Wittgenstein, Blankenburg, Reuss. Schwar- 

ZENBERG, GlEICHEN, HeNNEBERG, WeRTHHEIM, HoHENLOHE, 

Limburg (in Wurtemberg), Loewenstein, Oettingen, Hohen- 
zollern, Waldburg, Euerstenberg, Heiligberg, Epstein 
and Buedingen, Hanau and Solms ; on the Rhine, the Counts 
of Salm, Pfyrt, Vaudemont, Sarwerd, Lichtberg, Saar- 
BRUECK, Sayn, Wied, Isenburg, Zuetphen, Holland (497), 
Flanders, Hainaut, and Namur. 

543. XXIX. The Church. — We have previously spoken 
of Ecclesiastical Electors (513), and, in our 9th chapter, about 
the division of the German Ecclesiastical Provinces toward 
the close of the thirteenth century (401). Few changes 
had taken place since that time, only Bohemia had, under 
Pope Clement VI., a.d. 1343, received an Episcopal See at 
Prague. The military order of the Knights Templars was 
condemned and dissolved by the Bull of Clement V., of 2d 
May, 1312. In Germany the knights had already been ac- 
quitted of the heinous crimes of which they were accused at 
the ecclesiastical tribunal of Mainz, July 1st, 1310. The 
unjustly calumniated Templars were allowed to justify them- 
selves after the manner of the Westphalian free courts — 
Fehm- Gerichte — which began to become much in use at that 
time. They appeared in full armor before the Archbishops of 
Mainz and Treves, affirmed their innocence, turned their backs 
on the tribunal, and went their way in peace. The Teutonic 
Order (379) having been defeated in Prussia, found, in 1425, 
a refuge at Mergentheim, in the Bishopric of Wiirzburg, in 
Franconia (453). 

544. XXX. The Free Imperial Cities. — The number 
of the freie B-eichstadte in Germany was ninety-five. I. The 



178 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. GERMAN FREE TOWNS. 



SouABiAN cities, being situated in the interior, developed them- 1 
selves more slowly than those on the Baltic, the North Sea, 
and the Rhine (395,397). Augsburg and TJlm were only de- 
fended by a stockade of palisades as late as the fourteenth 
century, but the universal degeneracy of the nobility, and the 
opportune invention of g-unpowder and artillery, gave great ad- 
vantages to the citizens ; taking large bodies of Swiss pikemen 
in their pay, they were able to muster an army of 10,000 horse 
and 14,000 foot, and boldly to encounter the mailed nobility 
in open warfare. Count Eberhard of Wiirtemburg, at the 
head of the chivalrous societies (528), madepeace with theSou- 
abian cities, at Ehhigen, on the Danube, west of Ulm, on 
April 9th, 1382, according to which the roads should be kept 
open and secure from freebooting knights — Raubritter — and 
all people, high and low, be at peace and Christian love with 
one another. Yet the encroachments of Leopold, Duke of 
Austria, his defeat and death at Serapach, in 1386, and an 
alliance of the cities with the victorious Swiss, soon caused the 
rupture with the nobility of Souabia. The great War of the 
Cities — der grosse Stddtekrieg — began in 1387, in which, after 
the desolation of the finest provinces of the empire, the cities 
were defeated in several battles, but sustained the feud until 
the diet at Eger, in Bohemia, proclaimed a general peace in 
May, 1389 ; which, however, could only partially be maintain- 
ed by so weak and indolent a monarch as Weuceslaus the Bo- 
hemian. The Souabian League — a. d. 1382-1533 — embraced 
the following wealthy and commercial cities in Souabia, Fran- 
conia, and the Rhein-Pfalz : Augsburg, JViirnberg, and Ulm., 
as leaders; Esslingen, Giengen, Isny, Kaiifbeuren, Kenipteri, 
Landau, Lindau, Nordlingen, Rothweil, Reutlingen, Spires, 
Strassburg, Worms, and the federal cities of Switzerland. 

Augsburg was the queen of the German republics, and she 
exerted a permanent influence on the commercial and social 
development of the mother counti-y. Her citizens were war- 
like, and repelled with success the attacks of the Dukes of 
Bavaria and the Raubritter s. Though several prominent fam- 
ilies swayed her government, yet the guilds of the mechan- 
ics obtained their part in the administration, a. d. 1386, and 
all trades, the coarser manufactures, the arts and higher me- 
chanics, rose rapidly during the fifteenth century, and reached 
their height at the beginning of the sixteenth. The Augsburg 
bankers extended their operations to the East Indies ; and 
the intimate relations of the city to Lorabardy, Venice, and 
the Tuscan republics, nourished the taste of the wealthy 
Augsburgers for literature, the fine arts, and all the ele- 
gancies and comforts of southern life. Nurnberg, Ulm, 
Ratisbon, Strassburg, Spires, Worms, Frankfort, and Aix- 
la- Chapelle, followed in the wake of Augsburg ; yet none be- 
came so much the centre of the political and ecclesiastical 
transactions of the time as Constance (Costnitz), on the Bo- 
den Sea (176), during the quinquennial sitting of the cele- 
brated Council, from 1414 to 1418. The concourse at that 
synod of distinguished men from every country of Europe, 
was immense; while 4,000 prelates, and 2,500 professors and 
doctors of law, were preaching or disputing in the Gothic 
cathedrals, 10,000 princes, nobles, and knights, were lance- 
breaking and sword-slashing on the meadows of the Rhine. 
There, too, in the midst of a continual whirl of enjoyments, 
of boisterous banquets, pompous processions and tournaments, 
solemn oratories, penitential flagellations, or wanton come- 
dies and pantomimes, exhibiting the mysteries of heaven and 
hell — the austere and virtuous reformers, Johan Huss, of 
Hu.ssinecz, and Jerome, of Prague, were condemned and 
burnt at the stake — the schismatic Popes deposed, Martin V. 
elected, and universal reforms in the government and disci- 
pline of the Church discussed, adopted, but ultimately contra- 
vened by the sly intrigues of Pope Martin V. and his Italian 



cardinals. Thus all Christendom had then its attention direct- 
ed toward Constance, as two centuries earlier on Jerusalem and 
the Holy Land. 

545. II. The Hakseatic Confederacy. — Hcmsa Teuto- 
nicorum — of the cities in Northern Germany obtained its 
full development during this period, and embraced eighty- 
five cities, the most important of which we have already men- 
tioned (403). The hardy merchants of Germany became the 
heroes of the fifteenth century in quest of gold, as the crusad- 
ing pilgrims of the twelfth had been for relics of saints ; for 
the Hanse towns, too, had their warriors and martyrs in a 
life of continual hardships and dangers. With the broad- 
sword beneath their head, merchants and sailors reposed on 
their ships, or in their depots, always ready for combat; and 
as their power and wealth rapidly increased, their success 
spurred them on to still more arduous undertakings. The 
final act of the Union was drawn up at Cologne, in 1364, 
and signed by all the members. The main object of the 
League, therein expressed, was to protect the confederated 
cities and their property from foreign aggression ; to guard, 
extend, and monopolize their commerce ; to manage the ad- 
ministration of justice within the limits of the Union ; to pre- 
vent quarrels and acts of injustice by confederate diets and 
courts of arbitration, and to maintain the rights and immuni- 
ties received from the Emperor and the Princes. Farther, to 
furnish warriors and vessels, or in certain cases, money as a 
substitute. The League exercised a judicial power, and in- 
flicted the ban. Any city incurring such punishments was 
pronounced to be verhansed. The conquest and pillage of 
Visbye, the important staple of the Hanse, in Gothland, by 
King Waldemar III., in July, 1361, gave the signal for the 
war of the League against Denmark. A large Hanseatic 
fleet, consisting of M-ar-galleys — coggen — and smaller sailing 
vessels — sniggen or schutes — appeared in the Sound, in May, 
1362.^" Copenhagen, with its castle Axelhuus, surrendered, 
and was pillaged, but King Waldemar soon defeated the mei*- 
chant-warriors, and it was only in the year 1370, that the 
marshal of the realm. Sir Henning Podebusk, during the ab- 
sence of the King, ceded the western coastlands of Skaane, 
with the rich herring fisheries, to the Hanse, for the term of 
fifteen years. ^^'' This proved a most important acquisition ; 
the greedy republicans now established themselves on the low 
sandy shore, and divided the fisheries — Vitten-. — among the dif- 
ferent cities of the League. During the summer season, from 
St. James's Day to that of St. Martin, the sea-shore presented 
a scene of the highest animation and bustle ; it was a continual 
fair, where all the nations of the north, Scandinavians, Rus- 
sians, Finns, Germans, English, met and mingled in quest of 
profit or pleasure. On the north lay the settlements of the 
proud and taciturn merchants of Bremen and Campen ; south- 
ward followed those of the lively Vendes, the Liibeckers, and 

'■'° The republican warriors were already acquainted with the use 
oi fire-arms. They mounted their galleys with culverins and hoitihardu, 
which launched immense stones; and it is a remarkable fact, tliat the 
first cannon shot fired in the !N"orth was destined to cause a great 
change in the political relations of the Scandinavian nations. Prince 
Christopher of Denmark, the only son of King Waldemar III., com- 
manding the Danish fleet in the naval battle with the Hanseatic 
Leaguers, perished by a stone ball shot from a bombard. Being the 
last Prince of the dynasty of Swend Estridson, the succession passed to 
the daughter of King Waldemar, the great Margaret. 

''"' The herring had, during the twelfth centurj', most abundantly 
visited the coast of JUffcii, and the Vendes of Pomerania were already 
expert in salting it, and exporting the salted fish to the interior of Eu- 
rope. Later, however, the herring took its main direction toward 
the shores of Denmark. In 1164, the Hollanders obtained extensive 
privileges from the King, and commenced their large herring fisheries 
and regular exports t<> England and France. 



n 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. THE HANSE— HELVETIA. 



179 



the Hamburgers, who always held closely together. The fish- 
ing colonies were fenced in with palisades, and every trade 
had its proper place assigned for its stores and barracks ; 
churches were built, and the crowded markets were filled with 
the choicest products of the north and south. In every fishing 
locality the city bailiif and his men-at-arms strutted about 
with halbert and broadsword, to watch over the public peace, 
and settle disputes on the spot. The Danish commanders of 
the neighboring castles of Skanoer and Fuhterboe held juris- 
diction in criminal cases ; yet the influence of the Hanse 
towns was already so preponderating, that they obtained their 
own courts, until the resolute Queen Margaret compelled the 
grasping traders back within their proper limits, and, some 
years later, liberated Denmark from the yoke of her mercan- 
tile oppressors. Sweden and Norway fared still worse. The 
Hanse deposed King Hakon, in Stockholm, 1363, and gave 
his crown to their own gossip, Albert of Mecklenburg (438). 

546. The prosperity of the Hauseatic League continued 
during the whole of the fifteenth century, while Germany was 
cut up into political parties, and the wars between England 
and France threw the northern commerce into their hands. 
But the great reform, which was introduced in the constitution 
of the Germanic Empire by Maximilian I., toward the close 
of that era, and the extended powers which the sovereign 
princes thereby obtained in their states, soon worked in op- 
position to the democratic institutions of the confederate 
Hanse Towns. The maritime cities had already ceased to be 
the masters of the Baltic ;-°' the German princes brought 
those of the interior under their immediate control, in order 
to secure their own part in the profit from their commerce. 
Charles V. separated the rich cities of his Netherlands from 
the League ; and, finally, the discovery of America, and the 
sea-passage around the Cape of Good Hope to Hindostan, 
produced a total revolution in the commercial relations, by 
bringing other nations, Spaniards and Portuguese, on the 
world's scene. All these causes combined contributed to the 
gradual decline and final dissolution of the Hanseatic League, 
yet its shadow still flitted on through the sixteenth century, 
until the confederation was dissolved at last in the ultimate 
diet, held at Lubeck, a. d. 1630. 

547. Such was the geographical position of Germany at 
the death of the Emperor Frederic III., in 1493. The im- 
portant changes in the constitution, introduced by his son and 
successor, Maximilian I., in the celebrated Diet of Wor?ns, 
in 1495, the subsequent institution of a High Tribunal of the 
Empire — Reichs-Kammer- Gericht — and the general division 
of all the German States into eleven Circles — Kreise — com- 
manded by imperial colonels — Kreis- Obersten — belong to the 
modern era, and would form the introduction to a Historical 
Geography of the last three centuries, if we should be en- 
couraged to undertake a continuation of our present essay. 

VIII. — The Helvetian Confederacy of the Thirteen 
Cantons, a. d. 1500. 

548. Historical Remarks. — The history of the Swiss as 
an independent nation, begins with their revolt against the 
Habsburg dynasty, in 1308. Helvetia — Die Schweitz — 
belonged earlier to the kingdom of Lesser Burgundy (182, 

231 Pierce clissensions could not fail to break out occasionally among 
those covetous republics themselves ; thus, while Liibeck and the Ven- 
dish towns blockaded the ports of Norway (403), Bremen would 
secretly send provisions to the suffering countrj', which were paid with 
enormous prices. Bremen was then declared in the ban — she became 
vcrhnnsed — and was not reinstated in the League until the yeai- 1358. 



246, 389, 396), only the northern parts, Basle on the west, and 
the Thurgan on the east, formed portions of the Duchy of 
Alemannia, or Sovabia (250). Many noble families, such as 
the Counts of Kybvrg^ Toggenburg, Werdenberg, Attivg- 
kausen, Lenzburg^ Savoy, and Habsburg, possessed castles 
and territories in that fertile and picturesque country. The 
Helvetians ranged themselves directly under the empire, and 
the vicariate — Schirm- Vogtei — over Burgundia Minor, was 
for nearly a century — 1 127-1208 — wielded by the ducal house 
of Zahringen (396, VIII). 

Geneva (Janua), Lausanne (Lausonio), Solotliurn (Salo- 
durum), Windisch (Vindonissa), Zurich (Statio Turicensis), 
and Basle (Basilia), were ancient cities. Freyburg, Berne, 
and others, were built in the twelfth century by the Zah- 
ringers, and they rose quickly in wealth and population. 
Many Swiss nobles left for the crusades, and their lands came 
into the hands of the smaller proprietors or the cities. Thus 
Zurich, Berne, Basle, Solothurn, and the districts of Uri, 
Schwyz, and Unterwalden, on the Lake of Lucerne, gradually 
acquired the seignorial rights from the German emperors, 
and assumed the names of imperial cities or districts. Their 
commerce began already to extend across the Alps, and the 
gold and silk manufactures of the Lombards and the Eastern 
nations were with success imitated by the Swiss. The refine- 
ment which traflic and arts introduced among the Helvetian 
citizens, contrasted in a remarkable manner with the rude 
simplicity of the herdsmen of the Alpine Highlands, and the 
warlike and quarrelsome habits of the nobility in the Low- 
lands. With the extinction of the Zahringers, in 1218, the 
imperial vicariate of Burgundy passed to the Counts of Savoy 
and Habsburg. Count Rudolph, having inherited the estates 
of the Counts of Kyburg and many of the Alsatian possessions 
of the Zahringers, became the most powerful feudatory in the 
country. As Emperor of Germany, he often held his court 
among his beloved Schweitzers, whose privileges he respected 
and enlarged. But his son, Albert of Austria, who, on his 
accession to the imperial dignity, in 1298, was anxious to 
extend the power of his house over all Switzerland and 
Souabia, and thus, by the union of Western and Eastern Ger- 
many under the Austrian banner, overawe the independent 
princes of the centre, proposed to the free-born mountaineers 
that they should renounce their connection with the empire, 
and placing themselves as subjects under the wings of the 
Austrian Eagle, for ever become vassals of the House of 
Habsburg. On the refusal of the prudent Swiss, the emperor 
treated them with scorn, and the despotic rule of his bailifFs — 
Vogte — Hermann Gessler of Bruneck, and Beringer of Lan- 
denberg, with their mei'cenary bands, gave rise to that insur- 
rection in the forest-cantons — dieWaldstddte — of Uri, Schwyz, 
and LTnterwalden, in 1308, which is too well known to be here 
recorded in our geographical survey, Albert himself found 
his death by private vengeance, while marching his troops 
against the insurgents. Nor were his sons and nephews more 
successful. The glorious battles at Morgarten, Sempach, and 
Ndfels, prostrated the Austrian power in Switzerland. The 
Habsburgian possessions were conquered with the halbert, and 
the Swiss of the different valleys and regions of old Burgundy 
united themselves successively into that brilliant alliance — 
FAdgenossenschaft — which, with astonishing perseverance and 
valor, maintained its independence against France, Burgundy, 
and Germany, during the fifteenth century, and stands con- 
solidated, terrible and feared, with its thirteen sovereign re- 
publics (cantons), in the midst of the most powerful and cov- 
etous monarchs at the beginning of the modern era. 

549. I. -III. The Helvetian Cantons and their Con- 
stitutions. — Schwyz, Uri, and Unterwalden, on the east 



180 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— 1300-1453. HELVETIAN CONFEDERACY. 



south, and west, bordering on the beautiful lake of Lucerne, 
or of the four forest cantons — VierivakhtdcUer-See — were 
the cradle of Helvetian liberty. The Walstadter, descended 
from a tribe of Suethans or Goths (85), who during the 
earlier migrations of the Northmen, had settled at the base 
of the Ali)S, where they for centuries formed free communi- 
ties and under the command of their Landamman, as supreme 
governor or judge, recognized the supremacy of the German 
empire. They constituted themselves free Republics in 1308, 
and maintained their independence in the battle of Morgarten, 
1315. 

IV. Lucerne, on the northern shore of the Lake of the 
four Cantons, belonged formerly to the house of Habsburg ; but 
throwing off the yoke, the Lucerners in 1332 joined the Wald- 
stadter as the fourth forest Canton of the Confederation. 

V. ZuERicH, in a romantic site on the largest lake in Switz- 
erland, became the great emporium and market for Italian 
products and industry. The imperial bailiffs kept the roads 
over Saint Gothard free from robbers; and, by the frequent 
communication with Italy, ideas of political and religious 
liberty followed in the track of commerce. Zurich received 
and protected the first great reformer, Arnold of Brescia, 
in 1140-1144 (405), and having modified her aristocratical 
government under her able mayor, Rudolph Brun, she de- 
feated the Austrian dukes, and joined the Helvetian Confed- 
eracy in 1351. 

VI. Glarus (Glaris), in the deep valley of the Lint, east 
of Schwyz and Uri, lies surrounded hj the high chain of the 
Thur-Alps. No enemy ever invaded this secluded region ; 
its frugal and industrious inhabitants — the Glarners — were 
governed by the Abbess of the rich nunnery of Seckingen, 
under the vicariate of the Counts of Habsburg ; but slaying 
their despotic bailiff, Stadion, they joined the Swiss league 
together with Zurich in 1351, and secured their independence 
by the terrible defeat of the Austrians at Nafels in 1338 "'■' 

VII. ZuG, situated on the lake of that name, north of 
Lucerne and Schwyz, was the smallest republic of Switzerland, 
embracing a territory of only fifteen square leagues. It be- 
longed to the patrimonial estates of the Counts of Lenzburg 
and Kybiirg, and passed with their other possessions to the 
house of Habsburg. But the city of Zug being besieged in 
1352, by the victorious Swiss, the Zugers threw open their 
gates, and joined the confederacy, as the seventh Canton. 
Their government was democratic. 

VIII. Berne, west of Lucerne and Unterwalden, and ex- 
tending south to the highest range of the Berner Alps, was 
with its territory of 476 leagues the largest Canton in Switz- 
erland.''''^ Its beautiful capital, situated on a peninsula 
formed by the river Aar, as it descends rapidly from the Lake 
of Thicn, was built in the year 11 90 by Cuno of Bubenberg, as 
a stronghold of the free mountaineers against the encroach- 
ments of the neighboring nobility. Crowds of dissatisfied 
knights and citizens from every part of Switzerland and Soua- 
bia settled in Berne, and gave strength to the young republic. 
After the signal defeat of the nobles at Laupeii, in 1339, the 

^'^ Glarus differs from the other cities in Switzerland ; the Ghirners 
have entirely preserved the manners and fashions of the middle ages. 
Their wooden houses with high front gables are adorned with paintings 
in brilliant colors, representing the events of the times. Many inscrip- 
tions on the public buildings from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries 
are of historical interest. The narrow and crooked streets are so much 
obscured by the lofty mountains, overhanging the city on every side, 
that the sun is visible in winter only four hours in the day. 

"^ It is a common tradition, that the city received its name from a 
bear having been killed in the vicinity, by Duke Berthold IV. of Ziihr- 
ingen. The figure of the bear forms the city arms, and a number of 
tho?e ugly animals are still kept in tlie dry moats of the city at the 
present day. 



warlike Berners joined the Helvetian League in 1353 as the 
eighth and last of the ancient Cantons, and succeeded by the 
sword or by purchase in extending their dominion throughout 
the Aargau and the distant valleys of Mount Jura. They 
were a proud and haughty people, and carried on many bitter 
and bloody feuds against the neighboring Ereyburg. 

The Swiss had thus become formidable; all the eflbrts 
of Austria to stem the torrent were frustrated on the battle- 
field of Sempach, and the alliance of the Cantons with the Soua- 
bian cities (544), soon carried their victorious arms into the 
heart of Germany. Seven of the Cantons had a democratical 
form of government ; Berne alone was ruled by an aristocracy, 
which often stood aloof, showing little sympathy with the other 
Cantons ; but when the Alpine horns sounded the gathering 
against the Austrian or Burgundian despots, then all the stout- 
hearted Swiss fought and bled together, and shared with 
brotherly concord the spoils of victory. 

550. IX. Ereyburg, and X. Solothurn (Soleure), were 
not admitted into the league until after the Burgundian war, 
1481. The former Canton was situated west of Berne ; it ex- 
tended south to Waadt — le Pays de Vai(d — then possessed by 
the Counts of Savoy, and west to the lake of Neuchatel. The 
city of Freyburg Yi3u& built by the Duke Berthold, of Zahrin- 
gen, in 1 1 78, on the precipitous banks of the Sa'ane, as a bul- 
wark against the Bishop of Lausanne and the unruly Counts 
of Neuchatel : Ereyburg rose slowly, under continual feuds 
between her French and Germanic population, or against her 
neighbor Berne. She remained Catholic at the time of the 
Reformation, and under the pernicious influence of the Jesuits, 
until the late disturbances in 1847. Her splendid cathedral 
has one of the highest towers in the world, from which the 
view is of a beauty impossible to describe. Solothurn, like- 
wise in a most charming situation on the Aar, was strongly- 
fortified with its ancient walls and towers of Roman construc- 
tion. The Solothurners were celebrated for their fidelity and 
industry ; they remained the faithful allies of Berne, and de- 
feated the Habsburgers, no less by generosity in 1318 than by 
the sword in 1382. Their most dangerous enemy was their 
own Bishop of Saint Ursus. 

XI. Basle (Basel, Bale), bordering on the Eranche-Comte 
and Baden, formed a bishopric, which possessed many lands on 
Mount Jura. The city, situated in a highly romantic site on 
the Rhine, became the largest and best-governed Canton in 
Switzerland, its council being composed of knights, wealthy 
citizens, and members of the guilds, under the presidentship 
of the bishop. In Basle assembled in 1431-1443, the great 
ecclesiastical council, which after the pacification of the Huss- 
ite troubles in Bohemia, attempted in vain to restrict the 
power of the Pope, and reform the manifold abuses of the 
Romish church ; the time was not yet ripe : what thousands 
of prelates and law-doctors during twelve years of violent de- 
bates and discussions were unable to perform, was, seventy-four 
years later, accomplished by the learning and eloquence of the 
Augustine monk of Wittenberg. 

XII. ScHAFHAusEN, northcast on the Rhine, formed earlier 
the county of Nellenburg in Souabia. Its capital, °" near the 
celebrated waterfall of the Rhine, was small, its constitution 
aristo-democratic, and it was united with the Helvetic league 
in the year 1501, together with Basle. 

XIII. Appenzel (Abbatis Cella), on the east, belonged to 
the bishopric of Saint Gall ; yet, after many bloody feuds 
with their haughty bishops, the brave Appenzelers broke their 

"* It was originally called Schiff hausen, signifying a shelter for ves- 
sels, from its position above the cataracts of the Rhine; its port was 
frequented by river boats as early as the eighth centur}'. 



EiaHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. HELVETIAN CONFEDERACY. 



181 



chains, and uniting with the Swiss, in 1513, completed the 
number of the thirteen cantons composing the Helvetian 
League as it existed until the time of the French Revolution 
in 1789. 

551. The territories which the Swiss had conquered from 
the House of Habsburg, the Aargau, Thurgau, and others, 
were governed in community by the cantons as subject pro- 
vinces. Their Allies at the beginning of the sixteenth century 
were : — I. The cities of Muehlhausen, in Franche-Comte, 
RoTHWYL, in Souabia, Biel and Neuchatel, on Mount Jura. 
II. The League of the GrPasoNS. This confederacy of the 
inhabitants of the upper valley of the Rhine (the Engaddin) 
and others on the northern slope of the Lepontine and Rhd- 
tiari, Alps, dated its origin from the beginning of the fifteenth 
century, when the poor but high-minded villagers, weary of 
the exactions and oppressions of their feudal lords, assembled 
in arms at Trons in the valley of the Rhine, and forced the 
Abbot of Disentis and the Counts of We/denberg, Sax, and 
others to give their adhesion to the solemn Gray League — 
Graue Bund — which was sworn beneath the maple tree in 
1424. CoiRE (Chur) in Loiver R]i,(Ktia followed the example 
and formed a second league, called Gtottes Hause — Casa 
Dei. A third alliance was entered into by the Eastern Rhae- 
tians in the valleys of Davos. Lugnez, Savia, and the Lower 
Engaddin., in the year 1436, called the union of the Ten, 
Jurisdictions, and all three, fighting nobly against the armies 
of the Emperor Maximilian I., in 1499, joined the Swiss 
confederacy, but were not constituted as a canton (G-raubiin- 
den) until 1815. III. The seven districts of Upper Wallis 
— Haul Fa/«is— generous and brave, took arms against their 
tyrants, the Counts of Raron and Gcstelenburg ; they de- 
molished their castles, vanquished the Bishop of Sio7i 
(Sitten), and placed themselves under the protection of Berne. 
Only the Lower Wallis — Le Bas Valais — with the bishopric 
of Martigny (Octodunum), on the Rhone, obeyed the Counts 
of Savoy, who likewise held the province of Waadt — le Fays 
de Yaud — with Lausanne, Chillon, Moudon, Yverdun, and 
the populous and thriving Geneve, as fiefs of the Germanic 
Empire (403). 

552. Cities, Castles, Battle-fields, and oti-ier His- 
torical Sites. — Rutli, a small elevated plain, overhanging 
the western shore of the Lake of Lucerne, where, on the night 
of November 8th, 1307, the three brave Waldstadters, Werner 
Stauffacher, of Schwyz, Walter Furst, of Uri, and Arnold von 
Melohthal, of Unterwalden, each with ten friends, met and 
took, with drawn swords, the solemn oath of delivering their 

• country from the tyranny of the Habsburgian bailiffs. At 
Brunnen, on the eastern shore of the lake opposite to Riitli, 
the federal pact between the Forest Cantons was ratified in 
November, 1315, after the battle of Morgarten. TelTs 
Plate, a flat rock on the eastern shore of the Lake of Lucerne, 
nearly opposite to Riitli. Here Wilhelm Tell sprang ashore 
from the boat of Gessler, during the storm, and escaped 
through the mountains.'-^^ At Altdorf, on the Reuss, south 
of the lake, are still seen the ruins of the Castle of Gessler, 
by him haughtily called the Zivinghurg, or Castle of Intimi- 
dation ; a beautiful chapel, richly adorned with paintings and 

'°^ After the expulsion of the Habsburgers, tlie mountaineers of the 
Forest Cantons began to perform pilgrimages to this romantic spot on 
the lake, and in the year 1388 — eighty-one years after the event, the 
Canton of TJri caused the tasteful chapel — the Tells Capelle — to be 
erected on the rock, where Tell leaped ashore. More than one hun- 
dred individuals, who had been personally acquainted with the hero, 
were present at the ceremony. See .Johannes von Mtiller's History of 
the Swiss Confederacy, Vol. I. 



inscriptions, commemorates the spot where the father shot the 
apple from the head of his son in July, 1307."" Tell was born 
in the neighboring villaga of Burglcn. At Kussnacltt, east 
of Lucerne, beneath Mount Rhigi, the traveller beholds the 
moss-grown towers and ruins of another castle of Gessler, 
the bailifl', and at a short distance toward the lake is the deep 
woody glen — Hohle Gasse — where the unerring arrow of Tell 
struck down the tyrant. There, too, a chapel, adorned with 
paintings, portraits, and verses, records the event. Morgarten, 
on the southeastern shore of the small Lake of Aegeri, on the 
frontiers of the Cantons of Schwyz and Zug, forms a defile 
between the Mount Sattel and the lake. There seven hundred 
men from the forest towns, commanded by the old Rudolph 
Reding, of Biberegg, defeated Duke Leopold of Austria and 
his helpless chivalry on the 16th November, 1315. Nearly 
the whole Austrian army perished beneath the halberts and 
clubs of the mountaineers, and only the Duke, pale and trem- 
bling, was saved, by a flight across the hills to the plain of 
W inter thur. Einsideln, in the canton of Schwyz, at a short 
distance from Morgarten, was the celebrated abbey of Bene- 
dictines, whose sacred fountain and miraculous image of the 
Virgin Mary, gathered thousands of pilgrims from Switzerland, 
Germany, and France. Their gifts enriched the monks, and 
when the abbots of the convent, in their pride, attempted to 
drive the herdsmen of Schwyz from their pastures on the 
mountains, they caused the interference of the Habsburgers, 
all the bloodshed that followed, and thus indirectly the inde- 
pendence of the cantons. 

553. Sempach, a village on the eastern shore of the small 
lake of that name, in the canton of Lucerne, became, on the 
9th of July, 1386, the battle-field on which Leopold II., Duke 
of Austria, with the flower of his chivalry, was defeated and 
slain by a small body of Swiss. It was here that Arnold of 
Winkelried opened the path of victory, by grasping the Aus- 
trian lances and burying them in his bosom. In the glade of 
the forest stands a beautiful chapel, with pictures representing 
the battle. Stanz, south of Sempach, the capital of Unter- 
walden, was the birthplace of Arnold of Winkelried, whose 
marble statue adorns the square of that pretty little town. 
Here, too, the pious hermit, Claus von der Flue, assembled 
the quarrelling republicans in a congress, 1481, and persuading 
them, by his earnest exhortations, to put a stop to their feuds, 
caused Solothurn and Freyburg to be admitted into the 
league (551). 

Windisch, at the confluence of the rivers Reuss, Limmat, 
and Aar, in the ancient county of Habsburg (the present can- 
ton of Aargau), near the Roman ruins of Vindonissa. There, on 
the banks of the Aar, in sight of his hereditary castle of 
Habsburg (523), the Emperor Albert I. was ruthlessly slaugh- 
tered by his nephew, John of Souabia, and his companions, 
Rudolphus of Balm, and Walter of Eschenbach, on the 1st 
of May, 1308. Queen Agnes of Hungary, the sister of the vic- 
tim, built on the spot the nunnery of Konigsfelden, where she 
lived in retirement, and was buried."' Lenzburg, a few miles 
south of Habsburg ; Kyburg, in the ancient county of that 
name, in Souabia (the present canton of Thurgau), Toggen- 
burg, east, on the river Thur (in the canton of Saint Gall) ; 

'''^^ Compare our § 295, p. 89 note 109. 

''^■' That loving sister Agnes showed her Christian sympathy in an 
extraordinary manner. In her pious fury she caused more than a 
thousand innocent beings, knights, vassals, citizens, men, women, and 
children, from the castles and estates of the guilty noblemen, to be tor- 
tui-ed, quartered, hanged or beheaded, with fiendish cruelty, and from 
their bloody spoils, she built the convent for her nuns. This sainted 
Agnes was the daughter of King Rudolphus of Habsburg — the first 
Austrian ! 



182 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. HELVETIA— HUNGARY. 



Rapperstvyl, on the eastern shore of the Zurich, Werdenberg, 
the seat of the powerful Coiuits of that name, in the upper 
valley of the Rhine (Canton of St. Gall), were all splendid 
castles of the Swiss nobility during the Burgundian times, 
■whose ruins are still visited with pleasure by the modern tra- 
veller. There, too, in the Canton af Glarus, lies the pretty, 
small town of Ndfels, with the bridge over the Linth, where, 
on the 9th of April, 1388, the Glarners destroyed the third 
Austrian army. While the infantry, surrounded and broken, 
perished miserably in the narrow valley, the knights spurred 
away to the Lake of Wallenstadt ; but, on their crowding the 
long wooden bridge, it broke, and they, with their heavy armor 
and horses, sank, never to rise again. This memorable day is 
still a national festival among the Glarners. 

Laupen, a small town on the Sci'ane, west of Berne, be- 
came, on the 21st of June, 1338, the Marathon of the 
Berners. On that glorious field the young and aspiring re- 
public was rescued by her experienced leader. Count Rudolph 
of Erlach, like Athens of yore, by her Miltiades, from the un- 
just aggression of the neighboring nobility and their numerous 
vassals. " All the landmarks between Oberwyl and Wyden 
were covered with heaps of slain warriors and horses, with 
weapons and armor ; eight crowned helmets and twenty-seven 
baronial standards were carried in triumph to the victorious 
city." Yet the most remarkable scene of Helvetian bravery, 
and of the indomitable character of that people at the height 
of its virtue, was Sahit Jacobs, on the river Birs, a few miles 
south of Basle. There, sixteen hundred Swiss, with halberts 
and huge broadswords, withstood an entire army of 30,000 
French and English adventurers, led on by the Dauphin (after- 
wards Louis XI.) and the most renowned generals of France. 
Ten thousand Frenchmen were slain around the inclosure of 
the churchyard of Saint Jacobs, before the artillery of the 
invaders succeeded in prostrating those devoted mountaineers 
who perished to a man. This terrific battle, at the modern 
Thermopylas of Helvetia, was fought on the 26th of August, 
1444; it quenched the desire of the French cavaliers to pene- 
trate into the highly cultivated and happy valleys of the 
freemen ; their wild mercenary bands dispersed — and Switz- 
erland was saved.'"' 

At Granson, on the western shore of the Lake of Neucha- 
tel, and at Moral (Murten), on the small lake of that name, 
the united confederates prostrated the armies of Charles 
the Bold of Burgundy, in 1476 — and finally at Dornach, 
southwest of Basle, and in the defiles of Tyrolean frontiers 
they gained their last laurels against the forces of Maximilian 
I. and the Empire, in 1499, and the Swiss remained thence- 
forth undisturbed in their mountains. 

554. The Swiss of the middle ages, like the Greeks of an- 
tiquity, knew not only how gloriously to defend their country, 
but conspicuously to preserve the memory of their forefathers' 
deeds, by those graceful monuments which every where con- 
secrate their battle-fields, and by the brilliant trophies which 
adorn their arsenals, and command the admiration and delight 
of the modern traveller."^ Yet the success of the Swiss in 

"*The French knights were amazed at tlie almost superhuman 
prowess and strength of the Swiss; they said, " Qu'en leur temps, Us 
n'avaient vu ni trouve aucunes gens de si grand defense, ni tant outrageux 
et temeraires pour ahandunner leurs vies." It was on the battle-field of the 
Birs that tlie calculating Louis XI. took up the idea of gaining over 
the Swiss to that alliance with France, which, during the following 
century, placed those terrible warriors at her disposal whenever she 
had money to purchase them. 

"*' Almost evei'y city in Switzei'Iand, Lucerne, Berne, Morat, Basic, 
ha3 preserved in its arsenals numerous trophies from its meJiffival vic- 
tories over Austrians and Burgundians. Yet, in none do these antiqui- 
ties present so picturesque and impressive a show as in the Senate 



these wars, and the immense booty they carried home from 
them, did not fail to produce a gradual change in their po- 
litics and morals. The simplicity of their manners, and their 
justice and moderation, gave way to luxury, corruption, and 
thirst for conquest. The period of the wild life — das folic 
Lehen — in Switzerland began among its wealthy and intox- 
icated warriors. Feuds arose between the different cantons, 
devastating incursions were undertaken across the Alps, where 
the valley of Bellinzona and the beautiful regions on the Lake 
of Lugano, were, by the Swiss, wrested from the Duke of 
Milan, until at last the severe check they sufl'ered at Marig- • 
nano, in 1515, by Francis I., forced them to return behind the 
bulwark of their Alps. Their severe discipline and admirable 
tactics, however, had already produced a complete change in 
the military system of those times. The firm squares of the 
Swiss infantry, bristling with halberts and spears, repelled 
every charge of the chivalry, and moved with rapidity and 
irresistible force against the slowly served batteries and ill 
disciplined foot soldiers of their opponents. The Emperor 
Maximilian I. imitated the Swiss, in the formation of his reg- 
ular regiments of Lanzknechte, or pikemen, and Charles V., 
according to Machiavelli, brought the military system of the 
Swiss to perfection in his Spanish armies. France, Milan, 
and Germany, now vied with one another in taking Swiss mer- 
cenaries into their service ; and those hardy mountaineers, 
who were so proud of their well-earned liberty at home, shed 
their blood hereafter for the warring despots abroad ; nay, it 
has been asserted, that more than a million, of Sweitzers have, 
during the last three centuries, sold their lives to France for 
a miserable pittance. 

IX. Kingdom of Hungahy. 

555. Dynasties and Constitution. — The kingdom of the 
Magyars (314) attained its highest development toward the 
middle of the fourteenth century, when its great King, Louis 
of Anjou, uniting the crowns of Hungary and Poland, ruled 
as a sovereign over all the lands between the Adriatic and the 
Euxine, and extended the dominion of the Hungarian nation 
to its natural boundaries, the Carpathian range on the north, 
and Mount Balkan (Hasmus) on the south. During the reign 
of the ancient dynasty of Arpad, civilization had made but 
little progress among the wild and warlike Hungarians, partly 
on account of the roving habits of the Magyar nobles and the 
animosity of the native population against the foreign colonists, 
Kumani (315), Germans, and Wallaehians, to whom the kings 
had assigned lands within the kingdom, — and partly, too, on 
account of the indefiniteness of the royal prerogative and the 
troubles which had their origin in the disputed succession to 
the crown among various claimants. Order was at last re- 
stored in 1222, when Andreas II. — 1205-1235 — in his Golden 
Bull — Bulla Aurea — laid the foundation of the later Hun- 
garian constitution. Yearly diets of the states met at Stuhl- 
weissenburg, where in the presence of the King or the Count 
Palatine (314), they consulted about all the important aifairs 

House of Solothurn. In a Gothic hall, richly decorated with banners 
and weapons of every description, is seen a group of thirteen figures in 
complete suits of armor, in a sitting posture, around the council table. 
The glittering steelmen represent the envoys of the thirteen Cantons ; 
while the mailclad presideut, attended by his pages, is standing at the 
head of the board, reading the decree of the confederates of 1511, for 
their marching into Italy, in succor of the Duke of Milan. 

The charnel house, near Morat, with its heaps of human bones from 
the defeat of Charles the Bold, was destroyed by the French revolu- 
tionarj' arm3', in 1798, but a graceful column has lately been erected 
on the spot, and the vaults of the city hall of Morat are si ill filled with 
an entire arsenal of Burgundian armor and artillery, from the battles 
of Granson, Morat, and Nancy. 



EIGHTH PEIUOD.— A. 1). 1300-1453. HUNGARY. 



183 



of the kingdom. The hereditary succession of the fiefs was 
proclaimed ; the revenues of the crowu were restricted to the 
royal domains ; no foreigners were to obtain office or landed 
estate ; the nobility rendered knights' service only within the 
boundaries of the realm. The clergy lost part of their extra- 
vagant immunities, and slavery was abolished ; yet the re- 
markable clause was added to the compact, by which the nobil- 
ity and clergy were entitled to the right of armed resistance 
against the king if he should transgress the fundamental laws of 
the kingdom.""" Tranqiiillity being thus restored, and the at- 
tention of an active people directed to the fertility and advan- 
tageous situation of their country, Hungary became flourishing 
in the reign of KingBela IV., when the sudden invasion of 
the Mongol hordes (385), the defeat of the Hungarians at 
Mohi in 1241, and the flight of the king into Austria, caused 
the desolation of the whole northern and eastern parts of the 
kingdom, as far as the Danube and the hilly regions of Tran- 
sylvania. Fearful were the cruelties of the Asiatic barbarians, 
who left nothing behind them but ruined cities and mouldering 
corpses, and it is only with shuddering that we read the Hun- 
garian chronicles of those times. Yet, on the hasty retreat of 
Batu Chan toward the Volga, Hungary began to recover from 
her wounds, and her decimated population became in part re- 
stored by the numerous colonies of Italians, Flemings, Saxons 
and other Germans, who, following the invitation of King 
Bela, were settled in the valleys of the Carpathian mountains 
and the plains of Transylvania. The Arpad dynasty became 
extinct in A. D. 1301, and was succeeded by the Neapolitan 
branch of the House of Anjou,™' the most brilliant period 
in Hungarian history. The Angevin princes of Hungary dis- 
tinguished themselves favorably above those of Naples by their 
superior capacity and restless activity ; they maintained the 
royal dignity against the magnates and clergy, and were power- 
fully supported by the Romish Pope, their Rumanian auxil- 
iaries, and the many foreigners of talent and learning, whom 

"'° Tliis right of the Hungarians of taking up arms against their 
king, whicli has lately been so much discussed and commented upon 
by Louis Kossuth in this countrj', forms the closing lines of King An- 
dreas' concessions in the Golden Bull, with these words : Quod si vero 
iVbs vel aliquis successnrum nostrorwm aliguo unquatii tempore, huic dis- 
positioni noatrcB contra-ire voluerit ; liberam haheant harum auctoriiate,sine 
iiota alicnjus infideli.tatis tarn episcopi quarn. alii Jobbngiones (the noble 
castcllaiis and court ofRoers) ac nobiles regni, universi ei singuli, prm- 
scntes et futari ponlerique resistendi et contradicendi Hos et nostris svcces- 
suribus in perpchiam facuUatem ! All the subsequent wars in Hungary 
and the insurrections against Austrian oppression in more modern 
time3 of the patriotic Rakoozy, Tekelj', and Kossuth, have sprung from 
this privilege of resisting the perversion of the constitution, sword in 
hand. 

8(ii THE ANJOU DYNASTY IN HUNGARY. 

Charles Martel, the Pretender, 1 1305, 
married to Clementia of Habsburg, 1 1295. 



Charles Robert, King of Hungary, 1305-1342, 
married to Catherine of Poland, + 1881. 



Louis the Great, Kins <'<" Hunsary, 

Naples, and Poland, 1842-1382, 

married to Elizabeth of Bosnia, 1 13S6. 

I 



Andreas, King of Naples, 
smothered by his wife, 
Queen Giovanna, at 
Anversa, 1345. 



Makt, heiress of Hungary, 1 1392, 
married to Sigismund of Luxemburg, 
Emperor of Germany, 1 143T. 

Elizabeth, 1 144T, 

married first to Albert II. f 1489, 

snd secondly to Ladislaw V., 1 1444. 



Hedwig, heiress of Poland, 1 1 
married to Jagellon, of 
Lithuania. 



Ladislaw V., King of 

Hungary and Poland, 

perished at Varna, 1444, 

(married to Elizabeth of Hungary.) 



Elizabeth, tl505, 
married to Oa-simir of Poland, 1 1492. 

'Lasisi.a-w. VII., King of Hun£8ry 
and Bohemia, 1490-1518. 



Ladislaw VI., 

(son of Albert,) 

King of Huntrary, 1 1457. 

(Matthias Corvinus, King of 

Hungary. 1458-1490.) 



Anna, 

Queen of Hungary, tl54T, 

married to Fe^kdinand I. 

of Habsburg, Emperor of Germany, 

who united Hungary witli 

Austria, 1 1561, 



Louis II., PontJiumus, 

King of Hingary, 1516-1526, 

perished at Mobacz. 



they placed in important ofiices around the throne. The wars 
with the Venetian Republic in Dalniatia, and the intimate re- 
lations of Hungary with Naples and France, produced great 
changes in the ideas, manaers, and social habits of the Magyars. 
French and Italian became the language spoken at court and 
among the nobility, who now began to abandon their Tartar 
usages. High schools were opened in Funf kirchen (Pecs) in 
1367, and King Sigismund erected the first university in 
Buda-Pesth, 1388."^ The produce of the mines in the Carpa- 
thian Mountains and Transylvania enriched the treasury ; the 
Court of Wissegrad vied with those of Paris and Naples in 
splendor and enjoyments, while the victorious armies extend- 
ed the frontiers of the kingdom. Louis the Great was worthy 
of his name ; he ruled his vast empire for forty years with 
extraordinary energy and justice, and succeeded in uniting 
Magyars and Poles into a powerful nation, the bulwark of 
Europe in the East. We shall here take a review of the 
geography of Hungary and its dependencies towards the close 
of the fourteenth century, immediately before the advance of 
the Ottoman Turks on the Danube, and the decline of the 
Magyaric empire. 

556. Limits and Division. — A. The Kingdom of Hun- 
gary was bounded on the north and east by the Carpathian 
range — Krapak — on the south by the Danube, and its trilu- 
tary, the Save, and on the west by the mountains of Oeden- 
burg, and the rivers Lafnitz, Leitha, Danube, and Manh, 
which separated it from Austria and Moravia. It embraced 
the two principal provinces of the Magyar empire : — I. jMag- 
yar-Orszag — Hungaria Propria — with the provinces of 
Sclavonia and Synnia ; and II. Erdely-Orszag — Sieben- 
burgen — the Seven Castles — or Transylvania, 

557. Hungary Proper, the home of the Magyar race, 
had its natural division in I., Western (Lower) Hnngary, by 
the Danube, subdivided into the Cis-Danubian and Trans- 
Danubian circles, and in II., Eastern (tapper) Hungary, 
which the river Theiss separated into the Cis-Tibiscon ai.d 
Trans- Tibiscatt circles. These four circles contained fifty- 
three comitats — gespan?tschaften (253, 314), the names of 
which are already familiar to the historiQal student from the 
melancholy events of the late insurrection in 1848, 1849. On 
the east and north of the Danube lay the counties of Festli., 
Zolth, Bacs, Bodrogh, Neograd, Hontli, Sohl, Gran. Bars, 
Thurocz, Lipto, Arva, Trentcsin, Neithra, Komorn, and Po- 
sony (Pressburg). On the south and west of that river, the 
counties of Pilis (between Gran and Buda), Raab, Mosony 
(Wieselburg), Soprony (Oedenburg), Vasvar (Eisenburg), west 
of the dense and dreary forest of Bakovy, which extended 
south to Szalad^ on the lake of Balaton, and east to Ves- 
prim ; farther, Szekes-Feijervar (Stuhlweissenburg), Somog- 
yvar (Siimegh), Tolna and Baranyvar, in the swampy delta, 
between the Danube and the Drave. 

558. The comitats in the Tibiscan circles were : on the east 

''"^ A number of conventual and parochial schools liad already been 
established in Hungary during the eleventh century. In the twelfth 
many j'ouths, devoting themselves to the church, received their educa- 
tion in the university of Paris. The first attempt at a college — Studium 
Generate — in Hungary, was made in 1320, by King Ladislaw HI. at 
Vesprim, where the free arts, theology and jurisprudence were taught 
to a numerous assembly of students from every part of the kingdom. 
The Latin language had already supplanted the rough native tongue 
of the Magyars, yet many precious specimens of the popular dialect 
of this period have been preserved, in national ballads, war-songs, Mag- 
yar translations of the Golden Bull of King Andrew II., and in transla- 
tions of the sacred Scriptures, made as early as 1382. The development 
of the Magyar literature itself does not, however, begin before the six- 
teenth century. 



184 



EIGHTH PEEIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. HUNGARY. 



u 



of the Theiss : Marmaros, the border-country on the Eastern 
Carpathians, througli the defiles of which the Mongol swarms 
had invaded Hungary in 1241 ; Ugosz, Szathmar, Szabolcz, 
the two large coniitats of the Outer and Middle Szohiok, ex- 
tendino- through the immense plains between the Theiss and 
the highlands of Transylvania; Bibar, Kraszna, Bekes. Za- 
rand, on the river Koros ; Gsanard and Ara,d, on the Maros ; 
Torontal^ Temes, and Krassova, south on the Danube, in the 
Banat of Temesvar. On the west of the Theiss were situated 
the comitats of Unghvar, Beregh, Ze7)iplm, in the island be- 
tween the Theiss and the Bodrog, where the sunny hills of 
Tokay were cultivated with vines in the times of King Louis 
of Anjou ; Aba- Ujvar, Saros, Borsod, Torna, Zips, Gd7ndr, 
and Heves. 

559. The Sclavonian and Syrmian provinces — HorvatJi 
and Toth-Orszag — between the rivers Save, Brave, and Da- 
nube, formed the southwestern frontier counties of Hungary. 
They were divided into the comitats : Wdraxdin, on the 
Drave, Zagord, belonging to the powerful Counts of Cilly 
(526), Zagrab, Koros, Verocze, Poschega, Valko, and the Syr- 
mian peninsula, between the Save and the Danube, with the 
important fortress of Semlin, opposite to Belgrade, in Servia. 
Syrmia was held by the distinguished family of the 
Hunyads. 

II. Transylvania (33, 314), the beautiful and fertile pro- 
vince, east of Hungary Proper, surrounded by mountains, and 
watered by the Szamos, Maros, and Aluta, became later an 
independent principality, under the sway of the Zapolyas, in 
opposition to Austria It was divided into the comitats, Bis- 
triz and the Saxon Nb&lerland, protecting the northeastern 
frontiers of Mount Krapak, toward the Bukowina, and, there- 
fore, granted to the warlike family of the Hunyads ; in the in- 
terior, Doboha and Inner- Szolnok, on the Szamos ; Kolos, 
Tliorda, Kiikidlo, Feijervar (Weissenburg), Hazseg, and 
Hunyad, on the southwest, protecting the celebrated defiles 
of Volkan, on the Schyl, and of Vasag or the Iron-Gate, open- 
ing on the plains of Temesvar. The upper valley of the Ma- 
ros and the eastern frontiers were inhabited by the warlike 
Turco-Magyar tribe of the Szeklers (253), and divided into 
the districts of Maros, Udvarhely, and Harom. Southern 
Transylvania, or the Saxon Country, was colonized by Germans, 
and contained the districts of the Weinland, the hill-country 
between the Maros and Aluta, Fagaras and the Burzenland, 
southeast on the Wallachian frontiers, which earlier had been 
intrusted to the protection of the Teutonic Knights. 

560. In no part of Europe do we find, during the middle 
ages, and even at the present day, so many nations of different 
origin, language, and manners, living together under the same 

'government, as in Hungary. Of the ten or twelve millions 
inhabiting the highlands and plains between the Carpathian 
Mountains and the Danube, four millions only were Magyars 
(253), the conquering and ruling nation which held the sway, 
but occupied only some parts of that vast territory. Tlieir 
settlements lay mostly on the Danube, Theiss, and Maros, and 
in the counties bordering on Germany. Different Sclavo- 
nian tribes, the Slowaks, Ruthenians or Malo-Russians, and 
others, inhabited the mountainous regions of Stibor, 7Aps, 
and Marmaros, along the southern slope of the Carpathians 
where they became blended with Rhenish and other German 
colonists, who, as industrious and intelligent miners, explored 
the rich ores of the mining districts of Schemnitz, Kemnitz, 
and Neu-Sohl. On the sandy plain between the Theiss and 
Danube, were seen the straggling tents of forty thousand Ku- 
MANic families, whom King Bela IV. had established there. 



contrary to the desire of his Magyar subjects.''"^ Their dis- 
trict was divided into Nagy-Kunszag — Great Kumania — 
on the east of the Theiss, and Kis-Kukszag- — Lesser Kuma- 
nia, westward, between that river and the Danube. South of 
the Kumani, in the Bacs Country, on the Lower Danube, 
dwelt the nomadic Jazyges (33, 45, 90), who served as 
mounted archers in the Hungarian armies, while the country 
north was occupied by the Haydukes, or Freebooters, a Bul- 
garo-Servian tribe, well known in modern military history 
as the best light infantry of the Austrian armies in the 
eighteenth century. Hokvaths (Croats), Bulgars and Raitzi 
(Servians), the fiercest of the Danubian SclaA'i, inhabited the 
provinces on the Save, and rendered, during the fifteenth cen- 
tury, important services to the kingdom in the wars with the 
Ottoman Turks. 

561. Still more divided among heterogeneous tribes was 
the Hill-Country. Numerous Saxon and Dutch colonies had, 
since the thirteenth century, transformed the woodland val- 
leys of the Maros, Kockel, and Ahita, into a flourish- 
ing garden, where, embosomed among vineyards and or- 
chards, arose the German cities of Hermanstadt (Szeben), 
Miihlenbach and KronstadtJ'^'^ The latter city, situated 
at the northern base of the Wallachian Mountains, in the 
Burzenland (559), was granted to the Knights of the 
Teutonic Order, on their return from Palestine. But their 
arrogant bearing and ambitious pretensions caused King 

™^ On the approach of the Mongols, the King was forced to impri- 
son tlieir chief, Kutlieu-Chan, together with liis nobles, and when the 
blaze of burning villages and towns announced the rapid march of the 
Tartars upon Pestli, the frightened multitude stormed the loyal palace 
and slaughtered the Kuman hostages, unjustly suspecting them of hay- 
ing betrayed the mountain passes to the invaders. The enraged 
horde then, in all earnest, went over to the Mongols, and committed 
such atrocious cruelties on the Hungarian families which fell into 
their hands, that the Magyar nation never afterwards would forgive 
their descendants, though they remained in the country, protected by 
the Anjou Kings, and forming their faithful body guard. 

''"The peaceful existence of a German State in the midst of Sclavo- 
nic, Wallachian, and Hungarian countries, is an interesting historical 
phenomenon. Herman, a German chief, is said to have founded these 
colonies, and built Hermanstadt, about a. d. 1000. More certain, how- 
ever, is, that King Geisa II., in 1143, invited a number of German fam- 
ilies from Franconia, Westphalia, and Thuringia, then suffering from 
the violent feuds of the Welfs andWalblingers (397), to settle down in 
the incult woodlands of Black Hungary, or Transylvania (314), and 
with their German broadswords defend their new home from the Tar- 
tar cavalry hovering on the eastern frontiers. The Magyars called the 
new-comers Szaszoks (Hospites Teutonici), and the Arpadian Kings 
granted them certain immunities and privileges, by which that quiet, 
laborious people was enabled to form their own municipal and eccle- 
siastical government. They cleared the forest, and, assisted by the 
straggling Petchenegues and Wallachians, who, as herdsmen, tended 
their cattle and sheep, they soon became comfortable and wealthy. 
No feudal burdens called them away from the plough ; nor did they 
suffer any hereditary nobility to spring up among them ; thus, those in- 
telligent backwoodsmen have preserved their democratic liberty to 
the present day. In their mountain-girt and secluded valleys they en- 
joyed the blessings of civil and religious liberty, still more strength- 
ened by the austerest morals and brotherly union ; yet often disturb- 
ed by the sweeping incursions of the Turkish cavalry, who scoui'ed the 
open plains of Hungary, and planted their crescent-banners in the 
suburbs of Vienna. But the Spahis found the stout Germans prepared 
for defence. The Saxon ploughed his field with the sword at his belt. 
The churchyard of his village was a turretted fortress, from which the 
watchman sounded the alarm, and the first glimpse of the. turban on 
the distant mountain tops, was the signal for the frighted famihes, with 
their cattle and provisions, to hurry toward the House of God — Gottes- 
haus — which the brave Germans had often defended with success. Yet, 
the misery inflicted by the Turks in later times, by their union with the 
insurgent Zapolyan Princes of Transylvania, is lemembered to the pre- 
sent day, and the Hungarian mother still hushes her restless child 
with the threat of "The Tartar is coming" — Thon jiinnek a Tartdrok ! 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. HUNGAEY. 



185 



Andrew II. to expel them, sword in hand, in 1224. Only 
the Knights Hospitallers of Saint John in Jerusalem (340), 
succeeded in obtaining a firm footing in Hungary, where those 
gallant monk-warriors contributed powerfully to the defence 
of the Danube lines against the Ottoman Turks. Another 
tribe, difi'ering from the rest, were the Szeklers, about whom 
we have spoken above (559). The adjacent valleys were 
occupied by the Wallachian shepherds — the Rumani — 
descendants of the Roman or Daco-Latin population of ancient 
Dacia (33), who still speak a corrupt dialect of the Latin 
language.-"' Among the many nationalities of mediaeval 
Hungary, we meet with the Gypsies — Zingani or Zigeuner, 
that roaming Hindoo tribe, which made its first appearance on 
the Carpathian Mountains about the middle of the fifteenth 
century. Having been driven from then- home on the banks 
of the Indus, in Scinde and Guzzerate, by the irruption of the 
Mongols, they fled westward, and numerous bands of them 
settled down in Hungary, as smiths or horse-dealers, and 
rendered themselves useful in Transylvania, by washing and 
digging for gold in the beds of the rivers. More obnoxious 
than the Gypsies became the Jews, who, having obtained 
some privileges by King Bela II., in the course of time 
contrived to bring the commerce and currency of the country 
within their control, and the greatest monarch of Hungary, 
Louis of Anjou, found it therefore expedient to expel them 
from the kingdom in 1352. The proud Magyars, occupied 
witli military exercises, feuds, and intrigues, treated the 
foreign settlers with arrogance and contempt, but the prudent 
Angevin kings cherished their industry, lightened their 
burdens, and thus preserved the existence of those rival 
nationalities, which have aiforded the Austrian princes the 
means to control and bridle the Hungarians, and counteract 
all their strenuous efforts to restore the independence of the 
crown of Saint Stephen. 

562. Cities and Historical Sites in Hungary. — "Wisse- 
GRAD — Castncin Alburn^ or Blendenburg, on its elevated and 
romantic site, overhanging the Danube, north of Buda, became 
the residence of the Kings of the Arpadian and Angevin 
dynasties. There the awful tragedy took place, on April 17, 
1330, in which the old nobleman, Felician of Zaach, attempted 
to revenge on the royal family the mortal injury which his 
beautiful and innocent daughter Clara had suffered from the 
wild passions of King Casimir of Poland.""" There too the 
young King Sigismund was kept a prisoner by the Hungarian 
people until he had guaranteed them the enjoyment of their 
charter and liberties. Buda, with Pesth, on the opposite 
eastern bank of the Danube, was the later capital and largest 
city in Hungary. On the square of Saint George, the weak 
and worthless King Ladislaw V., instigated by the treacherous 
counts of Cilly, ordered the execution of the eldest son of 
John Hunyad in 1456, which caused his own destruction, and 
raised the younger brother Matthias Corvinus to the Hunga- 
rian throne. In Feijervar (Stuhlweissenburg), southwest of 
Buda, with its splendid cathedral, the Hungarian kings were 
, crowned and buried. On the plain of Mohi, in the comitat 
/ of Torna, near the junction of the river Hernad and the 
--V Theiss, was fought the great battle between Batu-Chan, the 
yj Mongol (385), and the Hungarians, in which the latter, out- 
k^ flanked and overwhelmed by the Mongol myriads, suffered a 

^^' See interesting details on the manners and language of the Eu- 
mani of Wallachia, by Rev. Dr. "Walsh, in his travels through the Prin- 
cipalities. London, 1830. (We quote from memory.) 

^^^ See the account of this event in John Paget's Hungary and 
Transylvania, vol. i., page 199. The ruins of the old castle preserve 
still to this day the popular appellation of Wissegrddi-Cldra, in com- 
memoration of the unhappy maiden. 

24 



total defeat in 1241. At Rozgoriy, on the river Tarcza, in 
the Zips, Charles Robert, by the gallantry of the Knights 
Hospitallers, on the 15th June, 1312, vanquished and slew 
the Count of Trentcsin, and, forcing his rebellious faction to 
submission, secured the Hungarian crown to the Anjou 
dynasty. Ung- Var, in the Carpathian ridge, was the first 
city conquered by the Magyars, in 855, and from which they 
are supposed to have been called Hungarians (Ungars). 
Mohacs, on the western bank of the Danube, south of Buda, 
became the fatal battle-field on which the last King of Hun- 
gary, Louis II. Posthumus, perished with his small but 
devoted army, against Sultan Suleyman II., on the 29th of 
August, 1526, and Hungary ceased to be an independent 
empire. . Miinkacs, Komorn, Whrasdin, Temesvar, and 
Se?7iHn, in Syrmia, were for centuries the bulwarks of the 
kingdom. Kolasvar (Klausenburg), on the Szamos, in Tran- 
sylvania, was the birthplace of Matthias Corvinus. Karls- 
burg, on the Maros, south of the former, the residence of the 
great John Hunyad. In the Cathedral of Saint Michael, the 
tombs of the Hunyad family are still revered by the unhappy 
Magyar people, so sensitive to its former gloi'y.^" Vasag 
(the Iron-gate), on the border of the Banat, Volkan, Veres- 
Torony (Red Tower), Torzburg, and, Oitosch, were defiles 
in the Carpathian Mountains, opening on the plains of Walla- 
chia and Moldavia, which were fortified by towers, and intrust- 
ed to the vigilance of the Szekler Borderers. Influential 
families among the Magyar magnates were the Counts of 
Trentcsin, in the north, the Bathory, Nadasd, Erdody, 
Bereny,Hedervar, Kanisa, Battyan, Orszag, and Szilagyi, 
Kapoly, on the Lake of Balatan, and the Palff'y, in the 
comitat of Bacs. None, however, became so distinguished as 
the powerful Hunyadi, possessing immense estates in Tran- 
sylvania, the Banat of Temesvar, and Syrmia. In the west 
we meet with the Counts of Zapolya and the Styrian Counts 
of Cilly (526, 559), who exercised the most pernicious influence 
on Hungarian politics, and by their hate against the Hunyadi 
caused endless disorders in the kingdom. 

563. B. Dependencies of the Hungarian Empire in 
THE 14th AND 15th Centuries. — I. The Kingdom of Galicia, 
(now Lodomeria and Bukovina), north and northeast of the 
Carpathian range, was early conquered by the Arpadian kings 
— 1185-1220 — but the Magyar dominion beyond the moun- 
tains could only be maintained by force of arms, and the 
nominal pretensions were therefore ceded to Poland, in 1423. 
The country was divided into the three principalities of 
Belz, Przemysl, and Halicz. The inhabitants were Ruthe- 
nians or Russniaks (303, 451), a rough but industrious race, 
who professed the Greek religion, and occupied the Carpathian 
valleys far into Hungary. Their principal cities were Przein- 
ysl and Jaroslaio. Leopolis (Lemberg) was the residence 
of the princes of Halicz. Seventy Greek churches and con- 
vents denoted the piety of the citizens. Many Greek mer- 
chants were settled there, and the unhappy fugitives from 
Constantinople, in 1453, found a hospitable reception among 
their kind-hearted co-religionists in Galicia. 

II. The kingdom of Croatia and Dalmatia, south of 
the Save, and extending along the shores of the Adriatic to 
the Gulf of Cattaro, was conquered by King Kalmany in 
1102 (260). The Hungarians pursued their success; all 

"'" The full figures of the ancient heroes, though much injured by 
time or the wanton insults of the Austrians, still decorate the covers of 
the sarcophagi. The marble statue of John of Hunyad is represented 
as clothed in a flowing mantle, beneath which is seen the tight Hunga- 
rian costume of the time. Other figures are dressed in armor, "but 
with their waists more ridiculously pinched in," says Paget, " than 
even a Paris milliner would venture on." 



1S6 



EiaHTH PEKIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. EAGUSA— BOSNIA. 



Dalmatia — with the exception of the islands oiF the coast, 
early occupied by the Venetians,— the kingdoms of Rama, 
Bosnia, and Western Servia, were subdued between the 
years 1127 and 1138. The sly Venetians, however, profiting 
by the internal feuds among the Arpadian Princes, recovered 
the sea-coast, but were finally expelled during the brilliant 
campaigns of Louis the Great, in 1356-1357, and thenceforth 
Croatia was permanently united with the Hungarian crown. 
The possession of the Dalmatian coast proved troublesome to 
the Hungarian kings, because they neglected the ports and 
naval establishments, though they continued in such intimate 
relations to Naples ; and the native Dalmatians, as a sea- 
faring people, preferred the Venetian Republicans to the 
Hungarian Hussars. The revolution broke out in 1419 ; the 
Magyars were driven out of the country, and the banner of 
Saint Mark floated again along the sunny coast. 

A republican constitution was then introduced into the 
cities, under the protection of a Venetian provveditore ; but 
the .warlike Dalmatians of Poglizza, the Morlachs or Sea- 
Wallachs of the Litorale, or coast-district, and the roving 
Haidukes (Robber-captains) on the table-lands of the Dina- 
rian Alps, maintained their independence. They were always 
in arms, and lived by depredations on sea and land. The 
Hungarian kings, in order to flatter and conciliate the Croats, 
ennobled their chiefs, and formed numerous counties, such as 
those of Zengh, Corbavia, Lika, GrodniscJi, Zriny, nay, the 
entire district of Turopolia, on the beautiful plain of Turoj 
consisting of thirty-three villages, was ennobled by King Belo 
IV. All the inhabitants ranked with the Magyar aristocracy 
and sent special deputies to the Hungarian diets. Belograd 
or Zara- Vecchia was the ancient residence of the Croatian 
kings. Sebenico, with a splendid cathedral, profited by its 
excellent harbor to become a thriving commercial city. Zara 
(Jadera), on the coast, the most unruly of cities, became 
the eye-sore of Venice on account of the repeated rebellions 
of its citizens, and the immense sacrifices of men and money 
which its reduction cost the Republic. The Dalmatians 
were a handsome and intelligent people, whose principal in- 
dustry consisted in ship-building; they plied the Adriatic 
as far as the Archipelago and Constantinople with hundreds 
of caravels and quick sailing barks ; Dalmatia itself is one of 
the most fertile and picturesque regions on the shores of the 
Mediterranean.'"'' 

564. III. The Republic of Ragusa (139, 369) having 
placed itself under the protection of Hungary, — 1358-1526 
— may be ranked among the Selavonian States, during this 
period dependent on the Magyar empire. This small but 
highly intelligent people deserve the more our attention, 
because it was the only one of all the Slavic States that had 
adopted a republican form of government, which it succeeded 
in maintaining by bravery and shrewd policy between powerful 
neighbors until it was swept away by the storms of the Na- 
poleonic wars.-''' Its territory extended over a surface of 102 
square miles, and consisted of a narrow and rocky tract on the 
coast, running out into the projecting peninsula of Sabbion- 
ccHo, and of the small islands Meleda, Cazza, and Lagosta, 
with a population of 70,000 inhabitants, of a mixed Slavo- 
Italian origin. Ragusa soon became a flourishing and 

^"^ For a description of Dalmatia and Monte Negro with many his- 
torical details, see the eloquent work of Sir Gardener Wilkinson. 
London, 1846. Vols. I, II. 

"'" The French General Lauriston took possession of the neutral 
Eepublic in ] 806. Ragusa was besieged and taken by the Austrians 
in 1814, and forms at present a circle in the government of Dalmatia. 
Of all the Italian Republics of the Middle Ages, only the small San 
Mari'no, on Mount Apennine, has survived. 



important city ; its government was directed by a Senate and 
two Councils, at the head of which a Rettore, or president, 
held the executive power. Treacherous Venice attempted 
repeatedly to subvert the independence of her rival, but 
prudent Ragusa placed itself under the protection first of the 
Byzantine empire, and, on its decline, under that of King 
Louis of Hungary, while its brave mariners, beating off the 
Venetians, hoisted their flag in every port of the Mediter- 
ranean. 

565. IV. The Kingdom of Rama (Bosnia) was bounded by 
the Save on the north, on the west the Unna separated it from 
Croatia, and on the east the Drin from Servia. Southward it fol- 
lowed the course of the Dinarian Alps, but touched the Adriatic 
coast on the river Narenta. This mountainous region was well 
watered by the rapid rivers Bosna, Verbas, Pliva, Sanniza, 
and Rama ; its valleys were fertile, and the scenery of sur- 
passing beauty. Its rich gold and iron mines in the Alps 
were worked by the ancient Romans, but neglected by the 
indolent Bosniaks (Bosnians), the most barbarous of all the 
Sclavonians on the Danube. Rama"° was early divided into 
the provinces : Ussora, Sala, Varosch, Krakova, Orach 
(Suitowa), and Podrima, with the principalities of Czitrna- 
gora (Montenero) and Zenta, on the frontiers of Albania, 
and the two duchies of Rama, in the Alps, and San Saba, or 
Herzegowina, west of the mountains on the Narenta and the 
rocky coast of the Adriatic. The principal cities were : 
Jaicza (the Oval City) and Banjaluka, both on the Verbas, 
and ancient capitals of the Kings of Rama. Traivnick and 
Sarajevo, on the Bosna, strong and populous cities in the 
mountains. Mostar and Livno impregnable fortresses in the 
passes of the Herzegowina. Rama formed earlier a part of the 
kingdom of Servia, and was governed by Voivods, until 
Twartko threw off the yoke in 1375, and calling in the Hun- 
garians, obtained the royal title from King Louis, as a reward 
for his duplicity. The influence in Bosnia of so active a 
monarch as Louis of Anjou, became soon all-powerful, princi- 
pally on account of the violent religious disturbances in that 
country, and the crusade preached by the Pope against the 
Bosnian heretics— the Paterins ^" — whose conversion by fire 
and sword was intrusted to the King of Hungary. Swarms 
of Franciscan and Dominican Monks accompanied the invading 
army in 1352, and exerted themselves with an excessive zeal 
in the conversion of the heretics, but with no success ; they 
only served the political views of the Magyar Kings, whose 
yoke under Sigismund became so insupportable that the Bos- 
nians, in 1415, called the Ottoman Sultan to their relief. The 
victorious arms of the great Matthias Corvinus once more 
reconquered Bosnia, in 1 472, and placed a vassal king on the 
throne; but the Osmanlis under Suleyman II., prostrated the 
Hungarians at Mohacs, in 1526, and took permanent posses- 
sion of all the lands south of the Danube. 

566. V. The Kingdom of Rascia (Servia), the ancient 
Moesia Superior (34, 368), extended along the southern bank 

"" Bosnia obtained its earlier name of Rama from a mountain 
torrent of that name discharging itself into the Narenta, and that of 
Bosnia from the principal river Bosna, originating in the Dinarian 
Alps, and running northward into the Save. 

"' These Paterini — Kathars or Ketzers — seem to have followed the 
Unitarian doctrines of the unhappy Paulicians, whom the Greek Em- 
peror John Tziniisces had transported from Armenia to Mount Hsemus, 
in Thrace (266). They formed a numerous sect in Bosnia, whose 
inhabitants belonged to the Greek Church, and tliey were by the 
Latins called Bogomiles, because they were accustomed frequently to 
invoke the divine mercy in the Selavonian tongue. Bog, in that Ian- 
guage, signifies God, and milvi is equivalent to the Greek imperative 
f\4i](Tov, show mercy ! Therefore Bog-milvi or Bogomiles. 



EIGHTH PBEIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. SERVIA— BULGARIA. 



187 



of the Save and the Danube, from the Drin, on the west, to 
the Timok on the east. The high range of Mount Scardus 
(Schavdagh) formed its natural boundary on the south. 
Lower chains stretch northward, through the country which 
is watered by the broad and rapid Morava and its tributaries, 
the Ibar, Topllcza, and others. Servia, or Serblia, was 
divided into the Banat of Machou [Longomeria), on the 
Danube, conquered by King Stephen II. of Hungary in 1 128 ; 
the principality of Branitzowa; and eight voivodats : 1, 
Ressawa ; 2, Temnitz ; 3, Czernagora ; 4, Starhvla ; 5, 
Metoja ; 6, Kossoiua ; 7, Schupa ; and 8, Nissawa. The 
counties of Zenta on the lake of Scutari, and Podrima, in 
Rascia Proper, were afterwards wrested from Serbia by the 
Krals of Bosnia. Kruschevacz (Turk. Aladja Hissar), on 
the western Morava, was after Scodra (35) the residence of 
the Servian kings. Their sepulchral vaults were situated in 
Procupia (Kralowa, or royal town), southwest of the former. 
Branitzowa, a fortress on the Danube, which gallantly with- 
stood the Byzantine Greeks. Still more celebrated was 
Belgrade Belograd, Alba Grceca, near the ruins of the 
ancient Singedunum (34), on the southern bank of the Da- 
nube, opposite to Sernlin, in Syrmia. This strongly fortified 
city became the bulwark, not only of Hungary, but of all 
Christendom, against the terrible invasions of the Ottomans 
during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. King Salomon 
of Hungary had conquered it from the Byzantines in 1073, 
during the troubles of Constantinople preceding the accession 
of Alexius Comnenus (324), who re-took it from the Hun- 
garians. Belgrade was then alternately in the possession of 
the Bulgarians and Servians, and from the latter, Sigismund 
brought it back to Hungary. John Hunyad defended the 
city victoriously against the Turks in 1442, and when Mo- 
hammed II., after the capture of Constantinople, appeared 
before Belgrade with 200,000 Turks, the Magyar hero and 
the brave Franciscan monk Capistran defeated them in three 
pitched battles beneath the walls — July 14, 21, 22, 1456 — and 
forced the furious Sultan to raise the siege with a loss of more 
than 60,000 men. Nor did the Ottomans obtain possession of 
the city until the great invasion of Suleyman II. in 1521.^'- 
Smederoioo (Semendria),on the junction of the Morava with the 
Danube, was a city likewise illustrious by brilliant sieges and 
battles during the Turkish wars. At Kossowa, on the banks 
of the Schitnitoza, was fought the bloody battle between 
Servians and Turks on the 15th of June, 1389, which ter- 
minated in the total defeat of the former, and the downfall of 
their kingdom. Their last King Lazar Brankowitch was 

"^ Belgrade became stronger after every siege. The city consisted 
of four different parts : 1, the Acropolis, or fortress, situated on a 
towei'ing rock, in the centre of the whole, commanding the Danube 
from its high walls and massy towers. Its triple moats were filled with 
water, immense outworks defended the approach ; the interior of the 
fortress, with its bomb-proof casemates, deep cisterns, and subter- 
raneous passages, was the residence of the commander-in-chief of the 
Danubian frontiers, and later of the Turkish Pasha of Servia. A broad 
esplanade separates the castle from 2, the Water Town, the finest quarter 
of the city, likewise carefully fortified toward the Danube ; and 3, the 
city of the Rascians westward, on the Save, protected by palisades 
and batteries. The extensive suburb Palanka, with its bazaars, on the 
south and east of the fortress, formed the fourth quarter of Belgrade, 
the number of whose inhabitants was then larger than at the present 
day — 30,000 souls. Several small islands lie before Belgi-ade, the 
larger of which, that of the Gypsies, was fortified, and belonged to the 
defensive system of the town. The flames, bombardments, and other 
havoc of war have left little of the medioeval city of Belgrade. All 
the fortifications were lately in a dilapidated state ; the edifices of the 
castle were fast mouldering away, and nothing met the eye of the tra- 
veller but filth and Turkish squalidness and misery. At the present 
moment, however, great repairs no doubt are going on, and Belgrade 
may yet become the palladium of Ottoman heroism, as it formerly had 
been Ihat of the Magyars. 



captured bythe'Turks; but Sultan Murad I., while crossing 
the battle-field, was cut down by a noble Servian, Milosch 
Kobilawitch, who rose suddenly among the slain. The 
infuriated Ottomans then slaughtered the Servian king and 
prisoners, and spread bloodshed and devastation all over the 
country.-" Half a century later — in 1448 — John Hunyad 
and Murad II. met in arms on the same field, and the Chris- 
tians, in spite of the heroic bravery of the Hungarians, were 
again outflanked and defeated, after a fearful slaughter of 
three days — October 18-20. Hunyad escaped from the field, 
but fell into the hands of the treacherous Krai of Servia. 

567. Stephen Boistlaw had, in 1040, thrown off the Byzan- 
tine yoke' (324). Able and active chiefs succeeded him on the 
throne, the most celebrated of whom was Stephen Duschan — 
1336-1356. Stephen not only repelled all the attacks of the 
Byzantines, but carried his arms into the heart of Epirus, to 
Joannina, and took the title of Czar ; nay, he granted his 
people one of the most humane and enlightened codes of the 
Middle Ages, breathing a noble and benevolent spirit, and 
securing the peace and prosperity of his beautiful but unhappy 
country. The Servian statutes — Zalcon y TJstaw — bridled the 
arrogance of the nobles — Knceses — and protected the peas- 
antry and settlers — posadni/cs. Clergy, voivods, and nobles, 
sat in the diets and took part in the legislation. A body of 
German troops strengthened the national army, which was 
formed by the nobles, as vassals of the crown. Even a mili- 
tary order of Saint Stephen was established, and the kingdom 
divided into eight voivodats, which were assigned to the 
most powerful of the Boyards. This proved a dangerous 
practice ; the turbulent chieftains aspired at independence, and 
thus prepared the dissolution of the Servian State. Louis 
the Great, in several successful campaigns, in 1359-1361, 
brought Servia under the supremacy of Hungary, and Lazar 
Brankowitch was obliged to renounce the royal title of Krai 
and as k7ices or vassal render homage to the Hungarian king. 
While the successors of Stephen Duschan were engaged in 
civil feuds with their rebellious voivods, the Ottomans crossed 
the mountains. After the fall of Lazar Brankowitch, at 
Kossowa, in 1389, the whole southern province fell into the 
possession of the Sultans ; only in the north the Brankowitch 
family, by their vacillating and treacherous policy between 
Hungary and the Sultan, still maintained their dominion, 
until the year 1459, when Mohammed made all Servia a 
Turkish province, under the name of Serf-Eyaleti. We have 
already touched on the spirited character of the Servian 
nation (196, 324, 368); the brilliant period of their history 
still lives in the hearts of their descendants, and is the theme 
of a thousand legends and songs, which paint the events and 
characters of the times with truth and fancy in a highly 
poetical and beautiful language.'^* 

568. VI. The Kingdom of Bulgaria, eastward of Ser- 
via, followed the southern bank of the Danube from the Timok 

^''^ The extensive heath on which this important battle was fought 
was called the Plain of Merles, in Sclavonian Kossowo-polje, and in 
Magyar Rigo-mazew. "West of the city stands the Mausoleum erected 
there by the Turks to the memory of their Sultan. Lamps are burn- 
ing day and night within the tyrbe, or sepulchral chamber, and a num- 
ber of Derwishes perform their religious service. Yet the Christian 
martyr has likewise his monument, a large stone being placed on the 
grave of Milosch, and his counti-ymen still invoke there the retribution 
of the Almighty. 

-'* The popular poetry of the Servians has attracted the attention 
of the learned in Europe, and many successful translations have been 
published by Dr. Bowring, Emanuel Geibel, the German poet, and others. 
See the delightful work of Talvi : Historical View of the Language and 
Literature of the Slavic Nations, edited by Professor Edward Robinson. 
New-York, 1850. 8vo. 



188 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. BULGARO-WALLACHIAN LANDS. 



to the Black Sea, and Mount Hasraus separated it on the south 
from the Byzantine province of Thrace. The flowery plains 
and wood-clad hills of Bulgaria, and the opposite provinces 
of Wallachia and Moldavia, were, during the Middle Ages, 
just as at this present day, the high-road and battle-field of 
all the barbarians who migrated from Central Asia into 
Europe. There the light Sarmatian cavalry fought against 
the heavy Roman legions, and the Huns pursued the scat- 
tered Goths (89). The Avars, Kiimani, and Petcheneges, estab- 
lished their ephemeral empires on the northei-n banks of the 
river ; the Bulgarians alone retained their possessions on the 
south, after the most sanguinary wars with the Byzantine 
emperors. There the Ottoman Turks displayed their victorious 
crescent, and the white eagle of Poland fled before them. But 
for the last century the Moliammedan victors have been 
threatened by powerful Russia, whose armies at this very 
moment are advancing on the banks of the Danube, and 
fighting the battle of life and death with the Turks. The 
issue is yet doubtful, but it may result in the permanent oc- 
cupation of the principalities, and the final destruction of the 
Turkish dominion in Europe. Bulgaria is a fertile, plain 
country, highly favored by nature ; its climate is milder than 
that of the more mountainous Servia, its bottom-lands on the 
Danube less marshy than those of "W allachia, and its rich pas- 
tures in the plains and on the slopes of Mount Hsemus are 
covered with flocks of sheep and herds of cattle, and those 
small but strong and lively Bulgarian horses, which are so 
much appreciated in Turkey. The ancient Bulgarian king- 
dom had been destroyed by the Emperor Basil II. in 1018 
(324) ; but the Bulgarians chafed under the iron rod of By- 
zantium, and they broke forth into open rebellion, under 
their Wallachian leaders, Peter and Asan, in 1186. Aided 
by the Kumanic hordes, their King Johanitza vanquished 
and captured King Baldwin of Constantinople and his 
crusaders in 1207, and, uniting with the Greek Emperor 
of Nicea, in Asia Minor, the Bulgarians formed a powerful 
kingdom north of Mount Hsemus. Yet the nation remained 
savage ; their princes followed one another on the throne by 
continual revolutions. Vanquished and decimated by the 
Mongols, the Bulgarians were easily overpowered by the 
Hungarians, and King Louis, taking Widdin in 1365, main- 
tained his supremacy, until the invasion of the Ottomans, and 
the battle of Kossoiva, in 1389, carried the victorious Sultan 
to the banks of the Danube. Bulgaria fell an easy prey to 
the conqueror ; all the later attempts of the Emperor Sigis- 
mund in 1396, and the Polacco-Hungarian King Ladislaw VI., 
in 1444, to recover tha,t important country, were frustrated 
by the invincible prowess of the Janissaries, and Bulgaria 
became a Turkish province, under the name of Bulgar-Ili. 

569. Cities and Historical Sites in Bulgaria. — Ter- 
NOWA (367), on the Jantra, the ancient capital of the Bulga- 
rian kings. Silistria (Dristra), Matchin, Tuldsha. and Kos- 
tendgJie, on the banks of the Danube, and in the narrow pe- 
ninsula — the Dobrud&lie — formed by that river and the Black 
Sea. Nicopolis, westward on the Danube, became, on the 26th 
September, 1396, the battle-field wJiere the Emperor Sigismund 
and his splendid crusading army, by the foolhardiness of the 
French and Burgundian knights, were vanquished by Sultan 
Bajazet Ilderim, (Thunderbolt) and hundreds of noble Chris- 
tian prisoners slaughtered in cold blood by the Turks, after the 
conflict was over.'^" Kunobitza, on the south of Sofia, in the 

^" It was at Nicopolis that Sultan Bajazet, having ordered the cap- 
tive princes and knights to pass before him ia review, after the bat- 
tle, was struck with the dark and scowling look of the young Count of 
Ncvers (496), the son of the Duke of Burgundy, and, after gazing stead- 
fastly on him, turned to his Pashas and said: "Here is one whom we 



defiles of Mount Hasmus, where, on the 24th December, 1443. 
the great John Hunyad, after one of the most brilliant cam- 
paigns in the annals of Hungary, defeated the Turkish army 
of Kara Bet, and reoccupied the Danubian provinces, north of 
the mountains. Varna, in a strong position on the Black Sea, 
at the mouth of the lake of Devna, became, next year, in 1444, 
the bulwark of the Turkish empire, and the sepulchre of the 
last crusading army of the west. In the environs of the citj-, 
on the swampy banks of the lake, was fought, on November 
10th, that terrific battle between King Ladislaw VI. and the 
old Sultan Murad (Amurad) II., which, by the treachery of 
Prince George of Servia, terminated with the death of the 
Hungarian King, and the total prostration of the Christian 
army. Only John Hunyad and his Hungarian light horse 
succeeded in cutting their passage through the Turkish masses, 
but all the contested provinces on the Danube Avere lost, and 
the formidable Mohammed II. was thus , enabled, nine years 
later, by the conquest of Constantinople, to consolidate the 
Ottoman empire in Europe, and render it the terror of all 
Christendom. 

570. VII. The Principalities of Wallachia and Mol- 
davia, north of the Danube, and west of the Carpathian 
Mountains, had, in the fom-teenth century, a more extensive 
frontier than at the present day. Moldavia, embracing the 
hilly province of Boukowina, on the north, ran all along the 
western bank of the Dniester, thus inclosing the present Bes- 
sarabia and the northern branch of the Danubian Delta. The 
Pruth, the Berlad, and the Sereth, joining the Moldawa and 
Bistrizta, descend from the Carpathian valleys, and fertilize the 
rich plains through which they flow. The Sereth formed the 
frontier line between Moldavia and Wallachia. The latter 
principality, which is situated on the Danube and the south- 
western bend of the Carpathians, receives the Aluta from 
Transylvania and a great number of smaller rivers, which all 
discharge into the Danube. The original inhabitants of 
these magnificent countries were Daco-Romans, mixed with 
Goths and other German tribes, who, though subdued by 
Huns, Avars, Petcheneges, Kumans, and other Tartar tribes, 
preserved most wonderfully their language and nationality, 
and, throwing off the yoke of their conquerors, formed an 
independent state under Radul the Black, toward the close 
of the thirteenth century. The Wallachian Princes were 
called Voivods ; the nobles, Boyards ; the constitution was 
Sclavonic ; the power of the Prince, despotic ; and Prince 
Dragosh, a monster of iniquity, obtained the appellation of 
Drakul — the Butcher — on account of his unheard-of cruelty 
and bloodthirstiness. The crimes and disorders they occa- 
sioned facilitated the conquest of Wallachia by the Hun- 
garian kings. Yet the wise and generous Stephen, Voivod 
of Moldavia — 1458-1504 — maintained his independence, both 
against the Turks and Magyars, and it was not until the final 
overthrow of the latter, in the battle of Mohacs (562), in 
1526, that the Sultans definitively obtained possession of 
the two principalities, which they thenceforth governed by 
HosjDodars, chosen among the servile Constantinopolitan 
Princes — the Phanariots — who crowded around the throne 
of their Osmanlis tyrants. The principal cities of Wallachia 
were : Bukuresoht (Bukarest), the capital and residence of 
the Hospodar, Tergowischt, Rimnik, on the Aluta, Krajewo, 
and Saint George (Gjurgewo) and Breyla, on the "Danube. 
In Moldavia, which enjoyed a greater independence under 
Turkey, was Jaschy — Jazsky — (Yassy) — the capital, near the 
river Pruth. Chozim, north on the Dniester, became a strong 

must send home, for if he yets back to his own country, he loill be the 
means of causing great troubles there, and keep the Giaours busy among 
themselves." A true prognostication of Sultan Thunderbolt ! 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. HUNGARY— PORTUGAL. 



border fortress against the Poles, while Akjerman, at the 
mouth of that river, protected the coast lands against the ad- 
vancing Russians. The slopes of the Carpathian ridge were 
then highly cultivated by industrious Saxon and Armenian 
colonists. Picturesque churches and convents arose on every 
hill, and populous villages, embosomed among vineyards and 
groves of fruit-trees, embellished the .valleys. But the ruth- 
less scimitar of the Turks, the despotic government of the 
petty Greek Princes, their continual change by the suspicious 
Sultans, have, for centuries, rendered abortive the exuberant 
bounties of nature, and the exertions of the good-natured and 
industrious people of the Wallachs}''^ 

571. Ecclesiastical Division of Hungary. — With the 
extension of Christianity in the eleventh century, a new eccle- 
siastical division of the Hungarian territories became neces- 
sary, and thus we find the kingdom of Hungary proper, tow- 
ard the middle of the thirteenth century — 1256 — divided into 
two provinces : I., Pkovincia Strigoniknsis, with the archi- 
episcopal see at Gran, on the Danube (253), and the Suf- 
fi-agan bishoprics of Agria (Erlau), Nitria (Neitra), Quinque 
EcdesicR (Pecs or Fiinfkirchen), Jaurium (Raab), Vesprim 
and Vacen (Waczow or Waitzen), thus embracing all the north- 
ern, central, and western comitats, between the Carpathians, 
the Theiss, the Drave, and the Austrian frontiers, — and II., 
Ppovincia Colocensis, with the archiepiscopal see at Coloc- 
ZA, on the Lower Danube, and the suffragan bishoprics of 
Magnum Yaraclium (Bellarad or Great Wardein), Morisena 
(Modrusch or Czanad), on the Lower Maros, Alba Transyl- 
vanice (Karlsburg), and Agrmn (Zagrab), in the Sclavonian 
province of Croatia, comprising Transylvania, Kumania, the 
Banat, the Bacs, the country between the Save and Drave, 
and extending its influence far into Bosnia, where we find the 
mention of a Latin episcopacy at Varch Bos7ia, on the river 
of that name. The archbishop of Gran, as the primate of the 
Church, enjoyed the title of Cardinalis Legatus Aj)ostolicus, 
and immense revenues. The convents were numerous, princi- 
pally in the northern and western counties, and along the Da- 
nube. Several councils were held at Gran, Ofen, Posony, and 
Udward, during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. 
Dalmatia was divided into the four small archiepiscopal pro- 
vinces of Ragusa, Spalatro, Jadera (Zara), and Antibaris 
(Antivari), on the coast of Albania, with a number of suffra- 
gan churches too insignificant to be mentioned here. Servia 
and Bulgaria, belonging to the Greek church of Constanti- 
nople, had patriarchal sees at Ipek, on the Drinus, and at 
Ternowa, while the principalities of Wallachia — Ungaro- 
vlachia — and Moldavia — MoldovlacMa — ranged under the 
Latin province of Leopolis (Lemberg), or under the Greek 
patriarchate of Halicz. 

572. Such was the extent of the Hungarian Empire 
during the vigorous reign of Louis the Great ; the Magyars 
advanced rapidly in the career of civilization ; the arms of 
John Hunyad repelled the Ottomans, and his still more suc- 

*" " I never saw," says John Paget, " two countries of their extent 
("Wallachia and Moldavia) so rich in productions, so fruitful in re- 
sources ; the land is of the richest quality ; the greater part of it, an 
alluvial plain, with a climate the most favorable for production. 
Yet, with all these advantages, I never saw a country so thinly popu- 
lated, nor a population so excessively poor and miserable ! Years of 
monopoly, oppression, and insecurity, have completed the ruin of the 
Wallachs." — Travels in Hungary and Transylvania. London, 1839, vol. 
II., page 407. 

^" See for farther details, the Ecclesiastical Geography, by Reve- 
rend John Elieser Wiltsch, Berlin, 1846, vol. II., page 265, and the ac- 
companying Atlas Sacer, a valuable guide for the thorough study of 
the Church History of the middle ages. 



cessful son, Matthias Corvinus, who, by the vote of the whole 
nation, had been raised to the throne in 1467, carried Hun- 
gary to the height of her power and prosperity. He was, both 
in peace and war, the most active and enlightened monarch 
of his age. Turks, Austrians, and Poles were defeated ; he 
maintained his sovereignty over Bohemia, made Vienna his 
capital, and turned his attention as well to the commercial 
and industrial development of his empire as to its intellectual 
progress. By the extension of the university in Buda, and the 
magnificent library, the largest in Europe, which he there 
opened for the benefit of the public, he conferred upon his 
nation its first claims to literary distinction. He brought 
order into the administration of the realm ; his fertile mind cre- 
ated new resources for the prosecution of his vast projects ; he 
enforced the vigorous execution of the tribunals, and repressed 
with a strong hand the arrogance of the magnates and the 
intrigues of the hierarchy, by his vigilance and his high sense 
of justice, supported by the warm affection of the whole Mag- ' 
yar nation. His father had instituted a general conscription 
of the twentieth man — the Hussars — who later formed a stand- 
ing division of the Hungarian army. Matthias organized a for- '\ 
midable artillery, and the Slack Legion of Bohemian cuiras- ^ 

siers, which became a match for the janissaries and the most , 
redoubtable body of troops in Europe. Yet all the bright \ 
creations of his genius went to ruin, through the incapacity 
of his successors ; and, though Hungary stood one of the 
most aspiring powers at the close of the middle ages, she 
was the first state of the modern era that suddenly sank, 
through civil dissensions and foreign aggression, and pre- 
sented a warning example of the instability of monarchies, 
which, however well they may be organized, are dependent on 
the chance-talent of a single family. 

III. SOUTHERN EUROPE, BETWEEN 1300 AND 1492. 

X. Kingdom of Portugal and Algarve. 

573. Historical Remarks. — No European nation pos- 
sesses a more brilliant history than the Portuguese during 
the latter period of the middle ages, from the beginning of 
the thirteenth century to the middle of the sixteenth. From- 
their small devastated territory, betweep the rivers Minho 
and Douro, the Portuguese, under a succession of warlike and 
active kings, intelligent statesmen, and daring navigators, not 
only drove the Moors from the western shores of the Penin- 
sula so early as a. d. 1250, and beating back the attacks of 
their proud Castilian neighbors, formed their independent / 
and powerful monarchy ; but they soon followed up their / 
victorious career against the Arabs, by the successful inva- 
sion of the opposite shores of Africa. To the possession of 
Ceuta, Tangier, and a number of cities and fortresses on the i 
African continent — Algarh claquem do mar — they boldly \ 
steered their course through the waves of the unknown At- i— 
lantic, and discovering and colonizing the beautiful islands / ' 
of Madeira, the Azores, Porto Santo, and those of Cape | 
Verd, they doubled the promontory of Good Hope, and, by the "^ 
conquest of the East Indian coasts and islands, laid the ' ^ 
foundation of that astonishing colonial empire which raisedV 
Portugal, within half a century, to the highest pitch of wealth, | 



prosperity, and glory, — the wonder and admiration of 
Europe. 



all 



■J 



574. Moorish Possessions in the Western Hispanic 
Peninsula, a.d. 1139.— While the Almoravid Princes of 
Spain (334) were still repelling the fanatic Almohad here- 
tics in Morocco, and uniting all their forces against the Cas- 
tilian and Aragonese kings in the north-, they neglected 
their western provinces on th6 Douro and Tajo. Count 



190 



EiaHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. PORTUGAL. 



Henry (Henrique) of Portugal (316), had made Guimaraes, 
near the Douro, his capital, and, crossing that river, had oc- 
cupied Coitnbra, Soure, and Miranda, on the Mondego. 
His son, the brilliant Alfonso Henriquez—1 128-1185— se- 
cured the advance of the Portuguese on the Tajo by the con- 
quest of Ourem, Ahnoural, and the erection of the strong 
castles of Leyria and Thomar, when a revolution of the 
Spanish Moors in the southern provinces against the Lamtu- 
nite or Almoravid Emirs from Africa (334) facilitated the 
invasions of the Christian knights. The vast extent of terri- 
tory south of the Tejo (Tagus), which at the present day is 
divided into the two provinces of Alem-Tejo and Algarve, 
formed, at the close of the eleventh century, the states of the 
powerful Beni Alaftas, emirs of Badajoz (334), who likewise 
ruled over parts of the Spanish Estremadura and Sevilla. 
The whole region was, on account of its position, called Al- 
garb, or the Country towards Evening. On the conquest of 
the wild Chiefs of Lam tuna (the Almoravids, from Africa), 
about 1110, this populous and flourishing region was divided 
into three provinces, governed by African Walis.''" 

575. I. Al Faghar, in the south, bordered by the At- 
lantic Ocean, the Sierra de Monchique, and the river Guadi- 
ana, or the present province, Algarve, with the cities and castles : 
Ibn Rasin (Santa Maria de Faro), Mirthola (Mertola), on 
the Guadiana, Chelb (Silves), on the river Silves, in the inte- 
rior, Oksonoba (Estoi), at its mouth, on the seashore, Tabira 
(Tavira), Hisn-el-Kassr (Villa Real), on the Guadiana, and 
Keriisa-el- Gorab, on the Cape of Saint Vincent. The north- 
ern slope of the ridge of Monchique was called Chenchir, 
with the celebrated city of Orik (Auriquium, Ourique), on 
the Corbes River, the scene of the great victory of Alfonso 
Henriquez, in 1139. 

576. II. Al Kass'r-Ibn-Abu-Danis, north of the former, 
embracing the present Alemtejo, with the important cities and 
fortresses Al-Kassh- (Alcacer do Sal), on the east of Setu- 
val, Kanthara-el-Seyf (Alcantara), on the Tejo, Taborah 
(Evora), Marida (Merida), Kasseres (Caceres), Zalaca (316), 
Curia (Coria), Belch (Yelves, Elvas), Badsha (Beja), Batli- 
alius (Badajoz, the strong city of the Beui-Alaftai'S, on the 
Guadiana), and Chericha (Xeres de los Caballeros), south of 
Badajoz. 

577. III. Belatha, north of the Tejo, with the populous 
and commercial Ashbuna (Lixbona, Lisboa, Lissabon), at 
the mouth of that river, Kantarim or Chantareyn (Santa- 
rem), in an almost impregnable position on the Upper Tagus, 
and Zintiras or Chintra (Cintra), in the beautiful Sierra de 
Cintra, north of Lisbon, all three considered as the bulwarks 
of the Saracen dominions in Portugal. The border districts, 
north of the Tejo, remained long a dreary wilderness and the 
battle-ground between the hostile nations, until they were, 
later, granted to the Knights' Templars, who, by their inde- 
fatigable exertions, soon peopled and cultivated that fertile 
region, under the protection of their castles of Soure, Leyria, 
and Thomar. These Moorish provinces had attained a high 
degree of prosperity by agriculture and commerce, when 
Count Alfonso Henriquez, at the head of his crusading army, 
boldly crossing the Tagus, in 1 1 39, under frightful devasta- 
tions, penetrated into Al-Kass'r, and, by his talents and 
heroic bravery, on the 25th of July, gained the brilliant 
battle, on the plains of Ourique, against the countless host 
of Africans, which secured the development and extension of 
the Portuguese monarchy. The victorious and enthusiastic 

'"'See the interesting details in the Histotia de Portugal por Ip- 
pol'Uo Eerculano. Lisboa, 1846, Vol. I. 



army hailed their chief. King — Rei de Portugal — on the 
battle-field, and the national assembly, or Cortes, of Lamego, 
in 1143, not only confirmed the constitution of the new king- 
dom, but declared nobles — Fidalgos — all the warriors who 
had couched their lances on the field of Ourique."" San- 
tarem (the Scalabis of the Romans, the sanctuary of Santa 
Irene), fell, by a nightly surprise, in 1145. Lisbon — the 
Buckler of Islam — had the same fate, in 1147, after an ob- 
stinate defence of five months ; nor could Alfonso Henriquez 
have attempted so great an undertaking with the scanty 
means of Portugal, if he had not been powerfully assisted by 
a fleet of Flemish and Scandinavian crusaders, who had 
landed on the coast, while sailing to the Mediterranean and 
the Holy Land. Another northern crusading army stormed 
and took the important Alcaser do Sal, in 1 158; Beja (Civitas 
Pace, Begia) -was surprised four years later, and Evora, the 
capital of Alemtejo, in its strong and magnificent position on 
the mountains, was captured, in 1166, by an ingenious strata- 
gem of the outlawed robber captain, Gerardo Giraldes, called 
Sem-Favor (the Fearless), who was pardoned, and rewarded 
by the generous Alfonso with the defence of this important 
fortress. Thus, on the wings of victory, the Portuguese 
drove their implacable enemies toward the southern extremi- 
ties of the Peninsula ; King Sancho II. conquered Moura, 
Serpa, and Juritmenlia, on the eastern bank of the Guadiana, 
in 1229, and, gallantly supported by the knights of the other 
orders, he successively took Mertola, in 1239. and Ayamonte 
and Tavira, m Algarve, in 1244; yet the glory of having 
entirely delivered the soil of Portugal from the Moslem 
invaders belonged to his brother, Alfonso III., who, in 
1249-52, completed the conquest of Algarve, by the surren- 
der of Faro, Silves, Louie, Aliac~ur, and Porches, and main- 
tained successfully his acquisitions on the Guadiana against 
the pretensions of the Kings of Castile. ''" 

"°Tlie early Portuguese chronicles are full of wonders, which have 
taken a strong hold on the imagination of that romantic and supersti- 
tious people. Alfonso, they relate, wearied with exertion, fell asleep, 
and beheld, in a dream, a venerable old man. In the morning, a 
hermit, like the form he had seen in the night, came to the Christian 
camp, and entreated the Count to visit him, on the following evening, 
in his cell. While the Count repaired thither, he beheld a shining 
figure, which appeared in the east, approached, and eclipsed the splen- 
dor of the starry heavens. "I am the Lord Jesus," said the apparition, 
"thy arms, Alfonso, are blessed. I set thee as a king over thy people. 
For sixteen generations my favor shall not depart from thy house ; and, 
even further than this it shall descend." Alfonso, inflamed by the 
power of his imagination, infused his own confidence among his war- 
riors, and rode boldly into the battle. From the death, or flight, of 
the five Moorish Kings (Emirs), Portugal placed the five azui-e shields 
on her escutcheon. 

Aqui pinta no branco escudo ufano. 

Que agora esla victoria certifica, 

Cinco escudos azues esdarecidos, 

Em signal destes cinco Reis vencidos. 
See the splendid verses of Luis de Camoens, in his Lusiad, describ- 
ing the battle of Ourique, Canto III., Estancias 42-54. The hermitage 
built near the spot was transformed into a church by King Sebastian. 
""" Alfonso X. el Sabio, King of Castile, claimed the sovereignty 
over Algarve and the border castles of the Guadiana, and required the 
Portuguese King both to pay a tribute and furnish fifty Portuguese 
knights — langas — to join the Castilian banner. But, when Alfonso III. 
of Portugal, had married his daughter Britis (Beatrix), and the young 
Portuguese Infante Diniz, in 1267, went to his grandfather's court at 
Sevilla to be dubbed knight, the old Castilian King became so pleased 
with the talents and amiable qualities of his grandson, that he, in spite 
of the opposition of the proud Castilian nobility, resigned the full 
sovereignty of Algarve to his son-in-law, Alfonso III, who, in that year, 
took the title of King of Portugal and Algarve, and added the seven 
golden castles of Algarve to the five azure shields of Portugal in the 
royal escutcheon of that kingdom. See Henry Schafer's History of 
Portugal, Hamburg, 1836, Vol. L, pp. 216-16, and Durham, Vol. III., 
page 166. 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. PORTUGAL. 



191 



578. Constitution and Internal Governbient. — The 
northern provinces of Portugal had rapidly improved under 
the fostering care of Dom Sancho I. — O Poplador — and, after 
the expulsion of the Moors, peace and prosperity were extended 
to the still more fertile, but dreadfully devastated, region of 
Alemtejo and Algarve, under the active monarchs Dom Alfonso 
III. — O Kestaurador — and his great son, Dom Diniz (Diony- 
sius) — O Juste — who, by his solicitude for the happiness of his 
people, earned the noble cognomen of father of his country^ 
O Pai da Patria. Diniz opposed with a strong hand the 
encroachments of the clergy, who, under his predecessors, so 
often had disturbed the public peace by the arrogant inter- 
cessions and excommunications of the Romish popes. His 
prudent policy had the most beneficent influence on Portu- 
guese manufactures, commerce, agriculture, and navigation. 
Numberless towns and boroughs were built, and favored with 
privileges — -foraes, — which placed their citizens by the side of 
the feudal nobility and the clergy, as the third estate of the 
realm. Diniz was indefatigable ; he visited himself every 
district — comarca — of the country, and sat as judge in the 
tribunals. He founded the University of Lisbon, which af- 
terwards was removed to Coimbra. He reopened, in 1290, 
the long neglected gold mines of Adiqa, near Almada ; pro- 
tected the merchants by commercial laws in 1293, and built 
the first Portuguese fleet in the wharfs of Lisboa, the com- 
mand of which was given to Manoel Pezagno, and other dis- 
tinguished Genoese mariners. Splendid cathedrals and mon- 
asteries already rose in every part of the young kingdom, 
and the ancient warlike manners of the Portuguese began to 
wear ofi'. The Hicos Homens formed the first class of the old 
nobility, the Lifanqoes the next ; the third was composed 
of the Cavalleiros and Escudeiros-Fidalgos, knights and 
squires, who all rendered military service as the vassals of 
the king. Different from these, and not enjoying the rank of 
nobles, were the Cavalleiros villdes — Caballarii Vilani — or 
mounted and light-armed landholders, while the poorer far- 
mers, peasants, and the mechanics of the cities — Pedes — 
formed the infantry. Every borough — villa — was fortified 
or protected by a neighboring tower, and when the wardens 
— Atalayas — gave the signal, " Moii.ros na terra : moradores 
as armas ! " all the inhabitants, nobles and commoners, hur- 
ried from the fields to form their well-organized bands for the 
protection of their homes ; nay, they were obliged to attend the 
gatherings — appellidos — forays — -fossados— and even more dis- 
tant expeditions with the king, for every Portuguese was a war- 
rior during the infancy of the kingdom. The large and fortified 
manors — Solarcs — -of the high nobility, and the feudal estates 
of the knights — Coiitas and Hour as — were exempted from 
all taxes and tributes, and enjoyed, like the vast possessions 
of the clergy, their own feudal jurisdiction. The king's 
lands — paiz da coroa — were therefore very circumscribed, 
principally in the northern provinces, which, during the first 
conquest, had been mostly distributed among the military 
companions of the Counts of Portugal. The royal governor 
— O Alvasir — resided in the government buildings — Palacio 
— opposite to which stood the city hall — Concilium or Foral 
— the centre of the popular assemblies and the court of jus- 
tice ; the officers of the palace were appointed by the king ; 
those of the community and the tribunals were chosen by the 
commons themselves. From the times of Dom Pedro I. an 
improved system of administration was introduced ; the powers 
of the royal officers — Gorregidores and Ouvidores — and of 
the ecclesiastical judges wore restricted, while those of the 
town judges — Jicizes ordenheiros — and the municipal officials 
— Almotaccls — were enlarged, and a regular police attended 
to public order and the security of the roads. 



579. Immense tracts in the southern provinces be- 
longed likewise to the five militaTy orders of Portugal, the 
Knights' Templars, their rivals the Knights' Hospitallers, and 
those of Aviz, Santiago, and the Wing of Saint Michael. 
The noble-minded Dom Diniz protected the unhappy Tem- 
plars during the persecution which, in the years 1307-1314, 
destroyed their order in the other parts of Europe. The 
Portuguese king, convinced of the innocence of the calum- 
niated knights, reorganized their order, under the name of 
that of Christ, and restored to them their confiscated estates. 
They held the castles of Pomhal, -E'^«, Redinha, Cardiga, 
Thomar, Soure, Nabdo, Idanha- Velha, Monsanto^ and Ze- 
zerc, and had splendid order houses in Lisbon, Evora, and 
Santarem. ■ The Order of Christ, like that of Santiago, elected 
their own Portuguese grandmaster, and the latter became thus 
released from their subjection to the order in Spain. The 
Hospitallers had their seat in Lega, near Porto, and possessed 
many estates and churches in the north. -The castle of Aviz 
(Avys), in Alemtejo, was the residence of the order of that 
name, to whose care the fortresses on the Spanish border were 
intrusted. The Knights of Aviz obtained great celebrity for 
their valor ; they followed the rule of the Cistercian monks, 
but were permitted to marry once, and to change their vow 
of chastity into that of conjugal fidelity. The extravagant 
concessions and privileges awarded to the nobility, clergy, 
and military orders caused continual disputes with the crown ; 
yet all the attempts of the kings of the Burgundian dynasty 
to restrain the turbulence of the feudatories, and to reclaim 
the squandered estates, proved unsuccessful until Dom Joao 
I.,-*' after the battle of Aljubarrota, mounted the throne, in 
1385, and, strong by the affection of the nation and by his 
brilliant conquests in Africa, restored the royal dignity. 
Dom Joao II., a prince alike prudent and courageous, ordered 
all who had received grants, whether of possessions or digni- 
ties, from his predecessors, to produce the necessary instru- 
ments, for the purpose of showing the tenure by which they 
were held, and wherever the title was defective the claim was 
at once dismissed. He subjected the feudal to the royal tri- 
bunals, and thus transferred his people from the jurisdiction 
of local tyrants to the magistrates dependent on the crown. 
This death-blow dealt at the independence of the nobility, 
caused that order to conspire against the throne, and to enter 
into treacherous connections with Castile. But the execution 
of the powerful Duke of Braganqa, on the scafTold, at Evora, 
in 1483, the death of the Duke of Viseu by the hand of Joao 
himself, and the exile of the rest, secured the internal tran- 
quillity of Portugal ; its aristocracy was broken for ever ; the 
state of the commons rose, and the wealth streaming in from 
the East Indian commerce inspired the nation with that love 
of freedom and glory which carried its banner victoriously to 
its conquests and colonies in the four quarters of the world. 

580. Provinces, Cities, and Historical Sites, about 
A. D. 1450. — A. Reino de Portugal was divided into 
five provinces : I. Entre-Douro-e-Minho, with the cities 
Gicimardcs, the ancient capital, Porto (Oporto) on the Minho, 
Viana, Braga, and Barcellos. II. Tras-os-Montes, east 
of the former, with Braganca, the principal seat of the dukes 
of that name. It was within its walls that Dom Pedro, the 
son of Dom Alfonso IV., in 1325, secretly married the beau- 
tiful Ignez de Castro. Chaves^ on the Tamega, was already 

2*'The Illegitimate Burgundian Dynasty of Portugal, 1385-1580. 
— Dom Joao I., Grandmaster of Aviz, son of Dom Pedro I. and The- 
resa Lourengo, King of Portugal, 1385-1433. Duarte L, 1433-U3S. 
Alfonso V. 1438-1481. Joao II., 1481-1496. Manoel the Great, 1495- 
1521, /oao //Z, 1521-1557. Sebastian, \5b1-lo19<. Henrique, 157 S- 
1580. 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. PORTUGAL. 



192 ___^ 

celebrated for its mineral waters. Miranda do Bouro and 
Monforte were fortresses against Galicia; while Castello- 
Rodrigo, Pinhel, and Almeida, in the district of Riba do Coa, 
protected the eastern provinces. III. Beira, extending from 
the Douro to the Mondego on the west, but reached, on the 
southeast, to the banks of the Tejo. Viseu and Lamego were 
ancient cities ; in the latter assembled the Cortes in 1 143 and 
1181. Montenior, on the Mondego, was frequently the resi- 
dence of the kings. Coimbra, upon a magnificent site on that 
river, became, in 1308, the seat of the only university in 
Portuo'al. It was there, in the convent of Santa Clara, where, 
in 1354, the innocent Ignez de Castro, by order of Dom Al- 
fonso IV., was torn from the arms of her children, and fell 
beneath the daggers of the Marshal Alvaro Gonzales, Pedro 
Coelho, and other nobles, during the absence of her husband, 
Dom Pedro, who afterwards, as King of Portugal, inflicted 
the most horrible punishment on the murderers, which they 
had so well deserved.-*^ 

581. IV. EsTREMADURA, extending along the sea coast 
from the Mondego, in the north, southward to the bay of 
Odemira, on the borders of Algarve. This was the most im- 
portant and populous province of the realm. Lisboa had a 
Mohammedan population long after the conquest of Alfonso 
Henriquez, in 1147. In its delightful position at the mouth 
of the Tejo, it became the centre of Portuguese industry and 
commerce, and the permanent residence of the Court in 
the reign of King Fernando, o Gentil. In the royal palace 
Dom Joao, the grand-master of Aviz, stabbed the Count of 
Ourem, the unworthy favorite of Queen Leonor, in 1383, and 
opened his path to the throne. Historically important places 
in the environs of Lisbon were Santarem, on the Upper Tejo, 
an earlier residence of the Kings, Abnada, opposite to Lis- 
bon, Torres Vedras and Torres Novas, strong castles on the 
Serra Estrelha, protecting Lisbon and the valley of the Tejo, 
on the north. Restello (afterwards Bethlehem or Belem), at 
the mouth of that river, with a magnificent cathedral of our 
Saviour, whence Vasco do Gama departed, July 8th, 1597, to 
discover the sea passage to the East Indies.'-^ Alenquer, 
Oeiras, Cintra, and Mafra, were celebrated for their splendid 
monasteries, palaces, and the romantic scenery of Serra da 
Cintra. Leyria, on the Lis, one of the oldest and strongest, 
cities in Portugal, around whose walls the Moorish wars had 
raged for centuries. At the hamlet of Aljuharrote, southwest 
of Leyria, was fought the important battle, on July 29th, 
1385, in which 2,500 Portuguese heroes, led on by Dom Joao, 
the grand-master of Aviz and the constable Nunho Alvares 
Pereira totally routed and defeated King Juan II. and his 
30,000 Castilians. In commemoration of the battle, the most 
glorious in the annals of Portugal, Joao I. built the Domin- 
ican convent of Batalha, a noble Normano-Gothic pile, as a 
burial place for himself and his successors. At another 
splendid monastery, the Cistercian abbey of Alcohac^a, west of 
Batalha, were the tombs of the princes of the earlier Burgun- 

■^'-TLe charming banks of the Mondego were for years the scene of 
the domestic happiness of Ignez and Dom Pedro, who, in this quiet 
retreat, far away from the turmoil and intrigues of the court, lived 
only for their affection and their children, so beautifully described in 
those noble verses of Camoens, which we cannot omit here to recall to 
the memory of the reader : 

"Estavas, liiula Ignez, postaem socego, 
De teus annos colhendo doce fruto; 
Naquelle engano da a^ma, ledo, e cego, 
Que a fortuna, nao deixa diirar muto," &e. 

— LusiADAS, Can. iv. 
283 " Partimo-nos assi do sancto Toinpio 
Qae nas praias do mar esta assentado 
Que o norae torn a terra, para exemplo 
Donde Deos foi em carne ao mundo dado." 

— LusrARAS, Can. iv., 87. 



dian dynasty. There, in the subterranean sepulchral vault, 
stood the sarcophagus of Dom Pedro I. and his fair and fond 
Ignez de Castro, who could not even find repose in the 
grave.-^^ 

Alverca, on the rivulet Alfarroheira, near Lisbon, was the 
scene of the disgraceful battle. May 20th, ] 449, in which the 
faithful bands of the Infante Dom Pedro, the victim of slander 
and envy, were attacked by King Alfonso V., and the inno- 
cent infante routed and slain with all his knights. South of 
the Tejo lay Setuval, on the coast, already a commercial town, 
and Sinis, the birthplace of Vasco de Gama. V. Entre 
Tejo-e-Guadiana, or Alem-Tejo, between Estremadura and 
the Spanish frontiers, was on the north, bounded by the Tejo, 
and south by the high ridge of Monchique, which separated it 
from Algarve. The principal cities were the above-mentioned 
Alcacer do Sal, Evora, Bcja, Oiiriqiie, and Crato, of melan- 
choly memory from the civil war of 1440, Important border 
castles were, Albuquerque, Alegrete, Yelves, and on the east 
of the Guadiana, Olivenza, Mello, Maurdo and Serpa^ often 
bravely defended by the Portuguese. 

582. B, Reino do Algarve comprised not only the 
southern province of that name, but the entire conquered ter- 
ritory in Africa, beyond the strait of Gibraltar, and was, 
therefore, divided into I., Algarve d'alem mar, or this side 
of the Sea, and II., Algarve aquebi mar, or beyond the Sea. 
In the former lay the cities Lagos, Silves, Tavira, Faro, and 
Louie, the last possessions of the Moors in Portugal. Alcou- 
tim, Castro-Marim, and Villa-Real, were border castles on 
the Guadiana, which there formed the frontier line toward 
Andalusia, in Spain. Sagres, on Cape Saint Vincent (the 
ancient Promontorium Sacrion), became the residence of the 
Infante Dom Henrique — O Navegador — where, in full view of 
the boundless Atlantic, that learned and enterprising prince 
built his villa, Terqa-Nabal (or Tereena-Naval, afterwards 
called Villa do Infante'), and directed all the maritime expe- 
ditions of the Portuguese for the exploration of the coast of 
Africa, and the colonization of the western islands of Porto 
Santo, Madeira and the Azores, which, by his exertions were 
then discovered In the ocean. Algarve, in its sunny position, 
between the Serra de Monchique and the sea, was the most 
fertile and beautiful province of the realm : its climate and 
productions were African ; its ports crowded with ships, and its 
cities with nobles and youthful warriors, who there mustered 
and prepared for the crusading expeditions to the African 
coast. The inhabitants were long a mixture of Christians, 
Moors, and Jews, living peaceably together, until the ruthless 
hand of the inquisition, in the sixteenth century, transformed 
that happy region into a wilderness Algarve beyond the Sea ox- 
tended from the cape of Ceuta (the ancient Abyla), on the east, 
westward to that of Espartel, and ran along the shores of the 
Atlantic for the distance of twenty-five Spanish leagues, or 
one degree of longitude, to the large Moorish city, Alcazar-al- 
Kebir, which, however, remained in the possession of the 
Moors. In the interior, the Portuguese territory crossed the 
western ridge of Djebal Habat (Atlas Minor), embracing the 
Moorish provinces of Habat and Azgar^ with the cities and 
castles of Ceuta, Ahnina, Alcazar-es-Seghir, Tangier, and 
Arzilla:-^' 

-"* The marauding French soldiery, which, in 1811, burned the con- 
vent, dragged her body from its resting-place, and so skilfully had it 
been embalmed, that the beautiful face of the Queen, to the astonish- 
ment of the robbers, was still in perfect preservation ; naj', her hair 
had even grown remarkablj' since her interment. 

''^^In the mediceval maps of Kruse and Anzart too great an exten- 
sion has been given to the Portuguese conquests in Africa toward the 
close of the fifteenth century. They never possessed Tetuan and Tcrga, 
east of Ceuta, and it was not until the beginning of the sixteenth cen- 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. PORTUGAL— CASTILE. 



193 



583. The African conquests of the Portuguese began in 
1415 (the year of the battle of Agincourt), with the surprise 
and capture of Ceuta, and they terminated, after a long period 
of heroism and glory, with the death of King Sebastian, and 
the total defeat of his Portuguese army, on the battle field of 
Alcazar-el- Kebir, in 1578. Ceuta (123, 214), on its low, 
sandy promontory, was, at the time of the conquest, a well 
built, populous, and wealthy city, under the sway of the Emir 
Zala Ben Zala, a tributary of the King of Morocco. It was the 
great emporium of Mauritanian commerce, with splendid bazaars 
and manufactures of iron, silk, and leather, in active commu- 
nication not only with the Moors of Granada, but with the 
Italian ports and the Mamluke Sultans of Egypt. In the pos- 
session of the Portuguese, it became the stronghold and great 
military depot of their armies during the following centuries, 
and its garrison repelled gallantly all the attacks of the 
Kings of Morocco and Fez. Before Tangier (65, 123) the 
Portuguese suffered the melancholy defeat of 1438, in which 
the pious Infante Dom Ferdinando — O Principe Consta.nte — 
was surrendered as hostage to the Moors for the restitution of 
Ceuta. This city, however, was not restored, and the prince 
died in captivity. Alcazar-es-Segliir fell in 1460, and when 
Dom Alfonso V., — O Africano — in 1471, after the bloody con- 
quest of Arzilla and Tangier, occupied the whole northern ter- 
ritory, he took the proud title of Rei de Portugal e dos Al- 
garves daqueni e d''alem mar en Africa. 

584. Nobility. — The most powerful feudatories in Portugal 
Avere the Dukes of Braganca and Coimbra ; the former family 
possessed the greater part of the northern provinces, with 
Braganca Viseu, Villa- Vigosa in Alemtejo, Odemira in Es- 
tremadura, and Taro in Algarve ; fifty cities and castles, 
with their territories, forests and pastures, obeyed the proud 
dukes, who rode to war at the head of 3000 lances and 10,000 
archers.^^* Other influential families north of the Tejo were 
the Menczes of Viana, Barcellos, Tarouca, and Villa-Real on 
the Douro, the county of Ericeira in Estremadura, and Louie 
in Algarve ; the Castros from Castile, brothers of Ignez de 
Castro, who held large possessions in Tras-os-Montes, the 
counties of Monsanto, Arayolos, and Cascaes, on the promon- 
tory, near Lisbon ; the Pereiras on the Minho and in Alem- 
tejo ; the Silvns, Couthihos, Sousas, Acunhas, Mellos, 
N'oronhos, Ata^des, Vasconcellos, Almaydas, Azevedos, and 
others, mostly situated north of the Tejo. 

585. The Ecclesiastical Division of Portugal. — I. 
Provincia Olysiponensis, with the Archiepiscopal See in 
Lisbon, erected in 1390 or 1409, and the suffragans of 
Guarda and Portalegre. To the Patriarchate of Lisbon 
belonged Leyria and Laniego, Ceuta in Africa, Angra of 
Terceira, and Funchal of Madeira. 

II. Provincia Braccharensis, with the See in Bracara 
(Braga), and the suffragans of Porto Miranda, Viseu, and 
Coimbra, and III. Provincia Eborensis, with the See in 
Evora, and the suffragan bishoprics of Elvas and Faro (the 
earlier ones of Beja, Lagos, and Silves having been sup- 
pressed). 



tury that tliey occupied Anafa, Azamor, Mazayan, Asafi, Azadir, and 
some other straggling cities on the southern coast, which, therefore, 
belong to the maps of modern Historical Geography. 

^^ The ancestor of this distinguished family was Alfonso, the son 
of Dom Joao I. and Doiia Ignez Pires, who having been declared legiti- 
mate in 1401, obtained the Dachy of Braganca, and the highest rank 
among the Portuguese nobles. After the most astonishing vicissitudes, 
the Dukes of Braganca mounted the throne of Portugal in 1640, and 
the late queen, Doiia Maria da Gloria, was a direct descendant of that 
dynasty. 

27 



586. Portuguese Discoveries and Colonies in the 
Atlantic. — The brilliant career of the Portuguese in naviga- 
tion and commerce began with the accidental discovery of 
Porto Santo, in 1418, by the Cavaliers Gonsalez Zarco, and 
Tristao Vaz Texeira, whom a storm had driven off the 
African coast. Madeira was colonized in 1 420 by Perestrello, 
who built Funchal, and the extraordinary fertility of that 
beautiful island, where Don Henrique cultivated the sugar- 
cane from Sicily and the vine from Cyprus, encouraged the 
Prince to new undertakings. While the Spaniards occupied 
the Canaries, the Portuguese held the Co^je Verde Islands, 
in 1446, and the Azores in 1451. They settled on the coast 
of Gimiea in 1463, ten years later in Congo, and the bold 
Bartholomeo Dias discovered the southern promontory, Cabo 
Tormentoso, for which name Dom Joao II., full of hope, 
substituted that of Boa Esperanqa. Yet it was not until 
1497, after the discovery of the Western Continent by Colum- 
bus, that the great Vasco de Gama boldly steered his course 
through the Indian Ocean to the shores of Malabar, and thus 
opened the path for that Portuguese heroism and glory in the 
East which form one of the most astonishing pages in Modern 
History. 

XL — Kingdom of Castile and Leon. 

587. Conquests from the Moors and Internal Rela- 
tions. — The long period of Spanish history from a. d. 1200 to 
1 479, embraces the almost incessant wars on the Peninsula, 
between the Christian and Mohammedan kingdoms, or the 
civil feuds within these states themselves. The supremacy of 
the Christian arms was decided in 1212, in the plains of 
Tolosa; there the Almohad dynasty was defeated and lost its 
fairest provinces. Castile and Leon, having become united for 
the last time under the sceptre of Don Fernando III., El 
Santo, in 1230 (316), rose in power and extent. One conquest 
followed another. TJbeda fell in 1234 ; the populous Cordova, 
with its glittering mosques and Saracen magnificence, in 1236 ; 
Murcia bowed to the Christian sway in 1243, and the war- 
like Aragonese princes were thus cut off from farther exten- 
sion on the Peninsula. Arjona, Jaen, Carmona, and the 
important Sevilla, opened their gates to the sainted Fernando, 
whose son, Alfonso X., El SaMo, reduced Huelva, X&res de 
la Front era, Cadiz, Medina- Sidonia, and Niebla at the 
mouth of the Guadalquiver. This was the last possession of 
the Almohad princes; they fled to Africa in 1256, and the 
greater part of Andalusia became incorporated in the Castilian 
Kingdom. Only Granada, protected by its natural position, 
and strengthened by the myriads of fleeing Saracens, who 
from every conquered province sought refuge within its moun- 
tains, still withstood the shock and maintained its independ- 
ence, under the energetic and enlightened government of the 
Alhamarid dynasty for more than two centuries, until its final 
overthrow in 1 492. 

Alfonso X. did not prosecute the war ; he turned his 
attention to the internal affairs of the realm. Spain was still 
far behind the other European countries in civilization ; her 
institutions developed themselves but slowly under the clash 
of arms ; nay, they were even stopped by the fierce civil 
dissensions which at that period broke out between the kings 
and their proud nobility, who, being in part allied to the 
royal family, continued to increase in influence and preten- 
sions. These disturbances were principally produced by the 
Princes of La, Cerda, who being excluded from the throne, 
found support in Aragon and among the nobles of the north, 
and returned sword in hand. Yet still more desolating was 
the civil war between Don Pedro El Cruel and his brother 
Don Henrique of Trastamara, about the middle of the four- 



194 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— 1300-1453. CASTILE AND LEON. 



teenth century, because it brought armies of French and 
English adventurers into the heart of Castile. Nor did 
brighter days begin to dawn on the accession of the Trasta- 
mara dynasty in 1368. The royal authority was undermined 
by the frequent regencies during the minority of the Kings, 
and by the pernicious influence of worthless favorites, when 
they at last came of age.^*' The reigns of Juan II. and 
Henrique IV. were turbulent, and it was only the auspicious 
union of Fernando and Isabella, in 1469, which saved Castile 
from anarchy, and restored the Spanish monarchy. ^^' 

588. Division of Provinces; Court, and Gtovernment. — 
The kingdoms of Castile and Leon were, according to the 
decree of the Cortes held at Alcal4 de Henares in 1349, 
divided into — I. The Kingdom of Leon, with Galicia and 
the capital cities of Leo7i, Toro, Zamora, and Salamanca. 
The western Sierra de Gruadarrama and the river Pisuerga 
formed the border line. II. The Kingdom of Castile — 
Castilla la Vieja — with the principality of the Asturias, the 
duchies of Viscaya, Guipuscoa, Alava, and the province of 
Rioja, on the Ebro, running along the Tajo and the Sierra de 
Guadarrama, and embracing Sigitcnza aud the county of 
Medina de la Ccrda, on the frontiers of Aragon. The 
principal cities were Btirgos, Soria, Segovia, Avila, and 

Valladolid. III. The Kingdom of Toledo — afterwards 
Casilla Nueva — extending south of the Tajo to the Sierra 
Morena, and embracing the southern part of Estremadura, 
La Mancha, and the county of Molina, on the frontiers of 
Aragon, with the capitals, Toledo, Madrid, Guadalajara, 
Alcald de Henares, Cuenza, Badajoz, and Merida. IV. 
The Kingdom of Andalusia — Andalucia — south of the 
Sierra Morena, extending to the Straits of Gibraltar and the 
Sierra de Granada, comprised the kingdoms of Sevilla, Cor- 
dova, Jaen. and Murcia, with the duchies of Medina Sidonia 
and Arjona, the counties of Niebla, Osuna, Baena and Arcos^ 
and the marquisates of Cadiz and Ayamonte. 

589. Burgos and Toledo were the usual residences of the 
Castilian Kings so long as Leon formed a separate state. 
After the final consolidation of the two kingdoms, the capital 
of the monarchy was Sevilla ; though Toledo, Madrid, Valla- 
dolid, and other places, were frequently honored by the abode 
of royalty. The Castilian Court — curia or cohorte — preserv- 
ed long the simplicity of Visigoth manners. Its chief officer 
was still the major domus (118); the armiger, or shield- 
bearer, held the next rank ; then followed the oiconomicus, or 
steward, the capellani, or chaplains ; the notarii, or secreta- 
ries, the cid)icidarii, or chamberlains, and the cellaril, or vic- 
tuallers. The courtiers were the cotnites — condes — to whom 
the government of the provinces was assigned. Within their 
respective jurisdictions the counts were termed ilu&trissimos ; 
they held courts like their liege lord, the king ; they appoint- 
ed magistrates in the subordinate towns, and in war they com- 
manded the troops, raised in their province. After the con- 
quest of Andalusia, the governors of the provinces were term- 

'" From A. D. 11.58 to 14C6, six regencies held the reins of govern- 
ment, which n)ainly contributed to strengthen the influence of the 
leading families; the nobility obtained dangerous privileges; not only 
the exemption from all taxes and contributions, but the nobles arrogated 
to themselves the right of renouncing their allegiance to the King — 
de» naluralizarse — and of calling another to the throne. The insecurity 
of the open country, continually exposed to the incursions of the Arabs, 
forced the cultivators to place themselves under the protection of the 
barons, and thus arose the Behctrias or townships under patronage, 
which suffered severely from the encroachments of their patrons until 
this institution was abolished ia 1454. 

'•"'^ See the interesting introduction to Prescott's History of Fcrdi- 
iinnd and Isabella. 



ed adelantados, while those of the cities were known as alcal- 
des, those of the fortresses as castellanos, and those of the bo- 
roughs as villicos. The alferez 'mayor bore the high sword 
of justice, and led on the troops during the absence of the 
King. Don Juan I. created the condestabile, or constable, as 
general in chief of the army, while the almir antes, or admi- 
rals, having their residence in Sevilla, held the command of 
the fleet and the naval establishments. The great body of the 
nobles was divided into two classes : to the first belonged the 
ricos hombres, or proceres, who held seignorial jurisdictions or 
high offices, and from the time of Don Juan II., were called 
grandes, or grandees of Castile, — and the condes, or counts, 
likewise great feudatories of the crown, who exercised a local 
jurisdiction. During the fourteenth century, the honorary titles 
of marquis and duke were introduced, such as the Marquis of 
Cadiz, and the Duke of Infantado. The second class consist- 
ed of the caballeros, or knights, military vassals of noble birth, 
who served on horseback, while the minor proprietors — peche- 
ros — were not considered as nobles, and formed the mass of 
the infantry, like the cavalleiros villdos in Portugal (578). 
The warfare with the Moors required light-armed troops, and 
we find them in the Spanish ginetes, or light-horse, who rode 
in short stirrups in the Saracen manner, and the almugavdres, 
or border wardens (258), an efficient light infantry, fighting 
with spear, cutlass, and mace, in the incessant forays — ahnu- 
gc^verias — on the Moorish frontiers. The commanders and 
guides of these troops, called cdmocadenes andadalides, enjoy- 
ed distinction on account of their important service ; they were 
always officers of trust, as the safety of the Castilian army de- 
pended on their vigilance and integrity. 

590. National Diets and Distinguished Families. — In 
the national assemblies — cortes — the third estate, or the com- 
mons, formed a constituent part, as early as 1169. They ex- 
ercised an important influence ; their assent was indispensable 
to taxation, and they had a controlling power over the expen- 
diture. At the convocation of the states at Burgos, in 1188, 
deputies were present from the following forty-three places : — 
Tohdo, Cuenza, Huete, Guadalajara, Coca, Cuellar, Por- 
tillo, Fedraza, Hita, Salainanca, Uzeda, Buitrago, Madrid, 
Escalo7ia, Maqueda, Talavera, Plasencia, Trvjillo, Avila, 
Segovia, Arevalo, Sahagnn, Cea, FuenteDuena, Sepulve- 
da, Ayllon, Maderuelo, San Estevan, Osma, Corcena, Ati- 
enza, Siguenza, Medina del Campo, Ohncdo, Falencia, 
Logrono, Calahorra, Arnedo, Tordesillas, Simancas, Torre- 
lobaton, Montalegre^ Fuente-Segura, Medinaceli, Berlanga, 
Almazan, Soria, and Valladolid — some of which were simple 
boroughs or villages, while several towns, and even large cities, 
were omitted. During the disorders of the civil wars, in 1315, 
one hundred cities associated in a Holy Brotherhood — Santa 
Hermandad — for mutual protection. They increased in 
strength and wealth ; their privileges — -fueros — were enlarged 
by Don Henrique of Trastamara, and they attained the height 
of municipal liberty and glory toward the close of tlie four- 
teenth century. But Castile had no general and di'fiiiitive 
constitution ; no regularity in the representation of the cit r's, 
which, moreover, like the republics of Italy, were distracted 
by rivalry and petty contentions. Their influence soon began 
to decline. In the cortes of Ocana, held in 1422, tivelve cities 
only were represented, and later, the privilege of being sum- 
moned to send deputies to the cortes was confined to the fol- 
lowing eighteen towns: Bivrgos, Toledo, Leon, Sevilla, Cor- 
dova, Murcia, Jaen, Zamora, Segovia, Avila, Salamanca, 
Cuenza, Toro, Valladolid, Soria, Madrid, GTiadalajara, and 
Granada.'^^'^ 

'''° See the dissertation on the mediaeval laws and institutions of tlie 
Spanish states, and the history of the progress and decline of the Cas- 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. CASTILE AND LEON. 



195 



The most influential families during this period were the 
Castros, in Gralicia ; the Haros, powerful and turbulent feuda- 
tories, in Viscaya ; the Zunigas, Osorios, Almanzas^ and Pi- 
meiiteles, in Leon ; the Enriqucces^Toledos, Pach,ecos de Acicna, 
Velascos, Mendozas, and principally the Laras, in Old Castile ; 
the Albuquerques de la Cueva. Portocarreros, and Silvas, in 
New Castile ; the valiant Guzmanes,{l;itev Dukes of Medina- 
Sidonia), and their rivals, the Ponces de Ij;on, in the kingdoai 
of Sevilla ; the Aquilares, in Cordova ; and the Fajardos in 
Murcia. Of these the Laras, possessing the whole territory 
between the Asturian mountains and the Sierra de Oca, near 
Burgos, were frequently in arms against their sovereign, while 
the Castros sought every opportunity to renounce their allegi- 
ance, and unite their arms with the Moorish Kings of 
Granada. 

591. Cities AND Historical Sites. — In Andalusia : Cor- 
dova, the capital of the Caliphs, the terror and admiration of 
Europe from 755 to 1234, when it was conquered by Don 
Fernando the Saint, and its 300,000 inhabitants dispersed. 
Its splendid libraries, bazaars, and mosques were destroyed by 
the crusading Christians, and of all the Asiatic grandeur of 
that civilized empire, there was only left the great mosque of 
Abderraman, the masterwork of Saracenic architecture. Yet 
even this incomparable monument was partly defaced by its 
transformation into a Christian cathedral, when hundreds of 
its elegant columns were broken down, in order to give place 
to some chapels of saints. Cordova was then also cele- 
brated for its manufactures of cordoban, or cordwain leather, 
which, since the expulsion of the Arabs, has constituted one 
of their principal export articles from Morocco. Sevilla [His- 
palis, Arabic, IshbiliaJ, in its fertile plain on the banks of the 
Guadalquivir, was then a magnificent capital, adorned with all 
the charms of nature, and the embellishments of Saracenic ar- 
chitecture, and became later the frequent residence of the Cas- 
•tilian Kings. In its Moorish palace — alcazar — took place, in 
1358, the awful assassination of Don Fadrique, the grand 
master of Calatrava, by order of his unnatural brother, Don 
Pedro the Cruel, of Castile. In Xeres de la Frontera, on the 
Guadalete, the tyrant imprisoned his lovely and innocent 
queen, Blanche of Bourbon ; and, abandoned there to the 
brutal governor, Juan Perez de Robledo, the unhappy 
princess perished by poison or steel in 1361 ; — one of the 
most horrible events in Spanish history ! Scdvatierra, Xeres 
de Badajoz, and Aracena were important fortresses on the west- 
ern frontiers, towards the Guadiaua. Palos, a small port in the 
principality of Niebla, became celebrated as the point of de- 
parture of Christopher Columbus, August 3d, 1492, for the 
discovery of the New World. At Alacab, on the plains north 
of Tolosa — las navas de Tolosa — on the southern slope of the 
Sierra Morena, was fought the most sanguinary battle of me- 
diaeval Spain, July 16th, 1212, in which Mohammed Abn 
Abdallah, of Morocco, was defeated by Alfonso IX. of Cas- 
tile, and Pedro II. of Aragon, with the slaughter of 160,000 
Arabs, who perished on the battle-field. Yet the final conquest 
of Western Andalusia was not secured until 1340, when Al- 
fonso XL of Castile, and Alfonso IV. of Portugal, with their 
united armies, vanquished the King of Granada, and his myri- 
ads of African auxiliaries, on the river Salado (Wady-Celito), 
west of Tarifa, and after the important conquest of Algeziras, in 
1342, confined the Mohammedans within the narrow bound- 
aries of the kingdom of Granada. Algeziras (Al-Dshesira, 
that is, the Island),, situated on a hill, in a strong and advan- 
tageous position, on the coast of the Strait, was then one of 
the most important cities of the Moors ; but it sufi"ered terribly 

tilian cities, in Dunham's History of Spain and Portugal, Vol. IV., pages 
48-152, of the New-York edition. 



during its prolonged siege, and the plough passed over its 
splendid streets. ''" Tarifa, on the southernmost cape of Spain, 
and tlie still stronger Djebal-Tarik (Gibraltar) became cele- 
brated by the heroical defence of the Guzmans. 

592. In the two Castiles, Palencia was the earliest seat of 
learning; its university, established by Fernando el Santo, 
in 1239, was, in 1404, removed to Salamanca. Valladolid, 
the frequent residence of the Castilian Kings, received anoth- 
er university, richly endowed by Alfonso XL, in 1346. Du- 
enas, on the Pisuerga, south of Palencia, was the usual resi- 
dence of Queen Isabella, who was born at Madrigal, April 
22d, 1451. Burgos, the gloomy old capital of the Counts of 
Castile (256), became, in 1361, the scene of the revolting cruel- 
ties of Don Pedro I., and of the execution of the ambitious 
Alvaro de Luna, in 1453. On the plain between Nojera and 
Navarrete, in the Rioja, near the Bbro, was fought the bloody 
battle between the hostile brothers, in which Don Enrique de 
Trastamara and his French cavaliers were routed by the su- 
perior tactics of the Black Prince, and the impetuous valor of 
Don Pedro the Cruel, on the 3d of April, 1366. The whole 
Castilian army was cut to pieces, Bertrand du Guesclin and 
his Frenchmen were made prisoners, and Don Pedro return- 
ed triumphantly at the head of his English auxiliaries. But 
his atrocious cruelties soon prepared his fall. At Montiel, a 
strong fortress on the northern slope of Sierra Morena, over- 
looking the dreary plains of La Mancha, the great contest be- 
tween the brothers was decided, in 1368. So astonishing was 
the course of events, that the fate of the Castilian kingdom 
was here intrusted to Moorish and French auxiliaries. Don 
Pedro, with his 36,000 Arabs, was defeated by Enrique de 
Trastamara and his 600 French lances. The tyrant fled to 
the fortress of Montiel, but, attempting secretly to escape dur- 
ing night, he was taken prisoner, and fell beneath the dagger 
of his brother, in the tent of Bertrand de Guesclin. This fra- 
tricide raised the Trastamara dynasty on the Castilian throne. 
Toro, Tordesillas, and Zamora, on the Duero, Ataquines, 
Baltanas, Olniedo, Los Toros de Guisando, Algorrabilas, 
on the Tajo, and Albuera and Valverde, on the Guadiana, 
were all places of historical interest during the intestine trou- 
bles of the fifteenth century, and the early reign of Fernando 
and Isabella. 

593. The Ecclesiastical Division of Leon ■ and Cas- 
tile. — The Castilian Church was divided into five provinces, 
which pertained to the Archbishop of Toledo, as the Primate 
of Spain.''" I. Provincia Toletana, extending from the 
northern shores of the Biscay Sea, south, through the centre 
of Spain, to the Mediterranean. The see of the primate was 

^"' At the siege of Algeziran, the Arabs from Morocco employed 
gunpowder and cannon, which their historians call naphta and thun- 
der tubes, and they describe with exaggeration the effect of the balls. 
The earliest appearance of artillery in Europe was at the siege of Ali- 
cante, in 1331, where, according to the Aragonian chronicler, Zurita, 
the Saracens terrified the Christian garrison of the city by the pelotas 
de hierro que se lanzaban con fuego. Annates de la corona de Aragon 
— Lib. VII., cap. 15. Edward III. brought up four small cannon at the 
battle of Crecy, in 1346, which spread fright and disorder among the 
French cavalry. 

^^'The primateship of the see of Toledo over all the provinces of 
the Spanish Peninsula was confirmed by the Pope Honorius III. in his 
three celebrated letters, from 1216-122'7, though the Bishop of Bracai'a ; 
in Portugal, those of Coinpostela and Burgos, and, later, that of Sevilla, 
obstinately refused to recognize the supremacy, and caused great 
troubles in the church. Yet, at the Council of Peiiafiel, in 1302, the 
Toletan Archbishop for the first time appears as the Primas Hispani- 
arum ac Regni Castellce Cancellarius, a dignity which was confirmed in 
the later councils of 1324, 1355, and 1478. See WUtsch, Vol. II., 
page 185. 



196 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. ARAGON. 



in ancient Toledo, on the Tajo, and the suffragan bishoprics 
were: Cordova, Jaen, Murcia, Concha (Cuemza), Segovia, 
Siguenza (Segontia), Osjna (Oxsima), VaUadolid (Valle 
Oletum), Leon, and Oviedo. II. Provincia Compostellana, 
embracing Galicia and Estremadura, on the frontiers of Por- 
tugal, had its patriarchial see in Sancti Jacobi de Compos- 
TELLA (255, 377), and the suffragans Mondonedo, Lugo, Tuy, 
Orense, Astorga, Zaniora, Salamanca, Ciiidad Rodrigo, 
Avila, Flacencia, Coria, Badajoz, and Idanha- Velha, in the 
kingdom of Portugal III. Provincia Burgensis, com- 
prised the ancient county of Burgos (256), the Asturian 
coastlands, the Vascongadas, and the Kingdom of Navarra. 
Burgos, on a branch of the Pisuei-ga, was the metropolitan 
see, under which ranged the suffragans of Palencia, Sancti 
Andrece (Santander), Calahorra for Biscaya and Rioja, and 
Pampiluna for Navarra. IV. Provincia Sevillana was 
established by Fernando el Santo, after his brilliant conquest 
of Andalucia. Sevilla was already an archiepiscopal see, in 
1267, and received, later, the bishoprics of Cadiz, Algeziras, 
and Malaga.; and, lastly, V. Provincia Granadensis, erect- 
ed by Fernando and Isabella, in 1 492, after the final expulsion 
of the Moors, with Illiberi (Granada) for its see, and the an- 
nexed bishoprics of Giiadix and Almeria. 

XII. Kingdom of Aragon. 

594. Conquests and Other Acquisitions. — Aragon and 
Catalonia had, by their union in 1150, become a powerful 
kingdom (318), which, though of narrow limits, when com- 
pared with Castile, distinguished itself among all the contem- 
poraneous states of Europe by its well-balanced constitution, 
by the energy and prudent moderation of its kings, and the 
dauntless bravery and commercial activity of its citizens, who 
vied with the maritime republics of Italy in the traffic and 
navigation of the Mediterranean. The crown of Aragon had 
obtained the counties of RoussiUon and Pallars (479), in 
1172, and Don Jayme I. conquered the Balearic islands and 
the kingdom of Vale^icia, from the Moors, in 1229-45. Yet 
the feudal possessions of Aragon in France (318) became 
alienated during this period of constant warfare against the 
Mohammedans in the south, and Jayme renounced, in the 
treaty of Corbeil, in 1258, his pretensions to Razez, Carcas- 
sonne, and some smaller territories north of the Pyrenees, 
in lieu of the entire independence of the Catalonian provinces 
from the feudal supremacy of France (184, 229). Roussillon, 
Omelas, Carlat, and Montpellier, remained, however, still 
attached to Aragon."'^ The political relations to Castile 
rendered it likewise necessary, in the treaty of Campillo, 1305, 
to cede to that power the conquests of Northern Murcia, 
Alicante, Orihuela, and Elche ; yet Aragon had already been 
brilliantly indemnified by the acquisition of the kingdom of 
Sicihj, in 1282 (423), the conquest of the isles of Gerhes 
and Karclds, on the eastern coast of Tunis, and the still more 
important islands of Sardinia and Corsica, which, after 
many hard-fought naval battles, were wrested from the re- 
publics of Pisa and Genoa, in the . course of the fourteenth 
century. Even the duchy of Athens, in Greece, became, in 
1311, an appanage of the House of Aragon, whose kings 
thenceforth retained the title of Dukes of Athens and Neo- 
patras.^'' To this long series of conquests was added that of 

^'"' See tlie adjoined Map, No. 5, Europe during the Crmades, and for 
details, Sismondi's History of the French, Bruxelles edition, 1836, 
Vol. v., page 235. 

^^Tbe army of Catalan and Aragonese adventurers in the Levant 
having defeated and slaiu Walter de Brienne, the Duke of Athens, in 
the battle on the Cephissus, in Bojotia (355), occupied the country, and 
offered their allegiance to their native sovereign, the King of Aragon. 
Athens remained for nearly a century— 1311-1386— under the dominion 



the kingdom of Naples, by Don Alonso V., in 1442, and, 
last of all, the union with Castile, in 1479. 

595. Constitution and Government. — The political in- 
stitutions of Aragon, though beai'ing a general resemblance 
to those of the other states in the Spanish Peninsula, differed, 
however, in many essential points, having developed them- 
selves under peculiar circumstances, which gave them an 
original character. In the Asturian mountains of Leon and 
Oviedo, the Christians had never entirely lost their indepen- 
dence (255, 256), and the ancient Visigothic constitution 
remained there, as well as later in Castile, the basis for the 
internal organization of the slowly extending Christian king- 
doms ; while, on the contrary, in the eastern regions of the 
Pyrenees, the last remnant of the Visigothic sway had disap- 
peared during the invasion of the Arabs across those moun- 
tains into the heart of France, and a new order of things had 
later begun with the Prankish dominion of Charlemagne (184, 
229). The mountaineers of Aragon and Catalonia, on throw- 
ing off their allegiance to the sinking Carlovingian empire, 
found themselves attacked by the powerful Mohammedan 
dynasties of Zaragoza and Valencia, and it was only by the 
most faithful union of the nobility and commons, and the most 
austere observance of feudal allegiance, that those small and 
weak states, under able and liberal princes could reconquer 
their territories, and, by incessant warfare, build up the Ara- 
gonian empire, which, among all the states of the middle ages, 
was the only one realizing the idea of a well organized realm.^"* 
The royal power was, in all important matters of administra- 
tion and politics, circumscribed by the Cortes of the realm, 
in their four chambers — brazos — consisting of the clergy, the 
high nobility — los ricos hombres — the knights — losinfanzoncs 
and caballeros — and the cities and communes — las tiniversi- 
dacles. Catalonia and Valencia had government and laws dis- 
tinct from Aragon, and their Cortes consisted only of three 
estates — prelates, nobles, and commons, — all no less tenacious 
of their privileges than those of Aragon. The cities, fortified 
in strong positions, and defended by an industrious and war- 
like population, rose earlier to independence and municipal 
government than in Germany or France, on account of their 
importance as bulwarks against the Arabs. Their extensive 
immunities were more clearly defined and better protected 
than in Castile, and they enjoyed a higher consideration from 
their kings.-"^ The number of deputies sent to the Cortes from 
the cities is not exactly known : Zaragoza, the capital, was 
sometimes represented by fifteen members, and the Cortes 
assembled at Lerida, in 1214, were attended by ten deputies 
from every principal city and borough in the realm, such as 
Huesca, Jaca, Calatayud, Daroca, Tarrazona, on the Cas- 
tilian frontiers, and others. 

of Aragonese princes or tlieir bailiffs. See the eloquent and interesting 
work, Espedicion de los Catalanes y Aragoneses contra Griegos y Turcos, 
por Don Juan de Moncada, Barcelona, 1620, cap. LXX. 

'"■'See the full exposition of this interesting subject in the History 
of Aragon during the Middle Ages, by Dr. Ernst A. Smith, Leipzig, 
1828, pages 379-453. The sources for the constitutional history of 
Aragon fioAV more abundantly than those of Castile or Portugal. Smith 
numbers more than sixty original works on Aragon during this period. 

'"'' Alonso IV. having granted estates to foreign cavaliers after his 
marriage with Eleanor of Castile, and otherwise infringed the privileges 
of the estates, the citizens of Valencia rose in arms against him, in 
1332, and besieged the palace. And ■when their leader, Guillen de Vi- 
natea, at the head of the magistrates and jurados, spoke in a menacing 
tone to the king and queen, in the presence of the court, Eleanor in her 
rage exclaimed: "My brother, the King of Castile, instead of yielding, 
would have cut off the head of every one of those rebels who dared to 
speak thus." But Alonso answered her with dignity: "Queen, you 
have to learn that our people is free, and not subject like tliat of 
Castile ; our vassals esteem us as their lord, and vre them as loyal 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. ARAGON. 



197 



596. An important officer of state was the great justiciar 
— el justicia — whose authority was supreme in judicial 
matters, and who pronounced on the validity of all royal edicts 
and ordinances. Suits against the crown and the officials of 
government were likewise brought before his tribunal. The 
jitsticia placed in this delicate position, keeping the king in 
constant surveillance, was uniformly supported by the states, 
and was thus enabled to carry the original design of that 
institution into effect — to check the usurpations of the throne, 
as well as to control the arrogance of the nobles, and the 
turbulence of the people. Under a constitution so admirably 
adapted to the stern aud practical sense of the nation, Aragon 
became a flourishing kingdom ; it excelled in various manufac- 
tures; a brisk navigation was carried on upon the Ebro, and the 
export of woollen and cotton stuffs enriched the abstemious 
Aragonese, while the bold and enterprising Catalan traded in 
Syria, Egypt, Greece, Barbary, France, and England. The 
Catalan fleets swept the Mediterranean, and the inventive 
genius and daring valor of a Roger dc Loria and other 
admirals inspired the nation with a heroism which secured 
them their vast maritime possessions.-"^ 

All the Aragonese kings distinguished themselves by chiv- 
alrous acquirements and military talents — some by their poet- 
ical genius, and others by the liberal support and encourage- 
ment they awarded to the Limosin and Catalan troubadours 
and other literary characters, who flocked to their court. Peter 
Rogiers, Mosen Jordi, Jayme Roig, Febrer, and Ausias 
March sang in praise of the dai'k-eyed ladies of Aragon and 
the gallant deeds of the Catalans on sea and land ; nay, the 
accomplished and unhappy Prince Carlos de Viana wrote 
valuable chronicles of his times. Thus poetry and literature 
softened the warlike manners of the nobles, while the splendor 
of the royal court and the influence and wealth of the Barce- 
lonese citizens presented a pleasant picture of the mediteval 
prosperity of the Aragonese empire. 

597. Provinces, Cities, and Historical Sites. — I. The 
kingdom of Aragon, with the duchies of Albarracin (a fief of 
the powerful Laras in Castile), the county of Ribagorza in 
the Pyrenees, and the baronies of Castro, Ayerbe, Urrea, 
Luna, Hijar, and others. Zaragoza, on the Ebro, the loyal 
city whose citizens enjoyed the rank of Hidalgos, was the 
residence of the court. Jaca, Huesca, and Albarracin, 
retained long a mixed population of Saracens and Christians, 
who vied with one another in manufactures and industrious 
enterprises. Teniel, Daroca, Monreal, Torellas, and Salva- 
tierra, as strong and well-guarded fortresses, protected the 
borders towards Castile and Navarra. At Monzon, on the 
river Cinca, Fraga, and Calatayud, were held important 
diets, securing the liberties of the land, and extending the 
power of the justiciary of the realm. Near Epila, west of 
Zaragoza, was fought the battle between Don Pedro IV. and 
the confederate nobles in 1348, in which the latter were routed 
and obliged to renounce the dangerous privilege of armed 
opposition to the crown. 

liegemeu and companions." In the Limosin dialect: — " JEl nostre pople 
es f ranch e no es axi subjugat com es lo poble de Castilla. Car els tenen 
a nos com a senyor, e nos a els <:om a bons vassals e companyonsP 

^^^ When the Count of Foix, in 1285, endeavored to persuade the 
Catalan admiral, Roger de Loria, to consent to a truce, and attempted 
to intimidate him by saying, "that France could arm three hundred 
galleys :" "Let her do it," exclaimed Loria; "I will sweep the sea with 
my hundred, and no ship without leave from the King of Aragon shall 
pass ; no, nor shall a fish dare to raise its head above the water, unless 
I can see that it bears the arms of Aragon on its tail ! "' The Catalans 
had Consuls in Alexandria, Tunis, Constantinople, and Damascus, so 
early as the thirteenth century, and they supplied the Low Countries 
aud the North with the rich products of the Levant. 



II. The principality of Cathalunya (CataluTia), with the 
duchy of Girona, the counties of TJrgel, Pallars, Besalu, 
Ampurdan, Barcelona, Llery, the viscounties of Car dona 
and Castelbo, and the baronies of Moncada, Trades, Ayfoiia, 
Osona, and others. Barcelona, in its picturesque and strong- 
position on the sea, and defended by its towering castle of 
Monjuich, became the centre of the Catalonian trade and 
industry, and the first among the commercial cities of the 
Mediterranean, which obtained a written code of maritime 
laws — cl consulado del mar — that formed the basis for the 
mercantile jurisprudence of Europe during the Middle Ages. 
The precipitous Monserrat (the peaked or serrated mountain), 
with its splendid Benedictine Convent, was early the peaceful 
abode of numerous hermits. Tortosa, on the Ebro, became 
celebrated by the heroical defence of its women, who, arming 
and relieving their exhausted husbands, repelled the Moorish 
invaders in 1149. At Lerida, on the Segre, Don Juan II. 
. treacherously imprisoned his son, the innocent Carlos de 
Viana, who in 1461 perished, the victim of a malignant step- 
mother. El Col de Fanizars, Girona, Ostalrich, and Figti- 
eras, in the Pyrenees, became in 1285 the scene of the heroical 
resistance of Don Pedro III. and his Almugavares against the 
immense invading army of Philippe III. of France, while 
Roger de Loria, with his Catalan galleys, on the promontory 
of Rosas, captured and destroyed his proud armada. 

598. III. The kingdom of Valencia, extending along 
the sea coast, and embracing part of Murcia, contained the 
duchies of Exerica (Jerica), Segorbe, and Gandia, with the 
flourishing cities of Valencia, Castellan, Denia, Alicante, 
Alcobillas, Elche, and Orihuela, all celebrated battle-fields in 
the Moorish wars. Nuestra Senora de Montesa, west, on the 
frontiers of Murcia, became in 1317 the endowment of a new 
order of military monks, which rose in Aragon on the ruins 
of that of the Knights Templars, after their condemnation 
at the council in Vienna, and desperate but vain resist- 
ance in their castles in Aragon. The commanders and 
brothers of the Castilian Order of Calatrava obtained all their 
rich estates, and became thenceforth the border-wardens against 
the Moors of Granada. 

IV. The kingdom of Mallorca (Mayorca), comprising 
the Balearic islands, the counties of Roussillon, Cerdana, 
Calibre, and Conflans, in the Pyrenees, together with the 
lordships of Valespir and Moyitpellier , formed during the 
thirteenth century a separate state, under a lateral line of the 
Aragonian dynasty.-'' At the diet of Barcelona, August 
21, 1262, Don Jayme I. gave the Balearic islands and the 
French fiefs in Lauguedoc and Provence to his younger son, 
Don Jayme, whose successors, after a reign of fifty-two 
years, were expelled by Don Pedro IV. of Aragon, in 1344. 
Jayme II., the last king of Mallorca, attempting in vain the 
defence of Roussillon, fled to Avignon, where he sold to 
Philippe VI. his only remaining possessions in Provence, 
Montpellier , and Lattes, for 120,000 dollars. Having 
gathered an army in 1349, he lauded on Mallorca, but he fell 
in battle against the Aragonese, and the islands remained 
united with the crown of Aragon. Falma, the capital 
became the principal mart for the Eastern commerce of the 
Catalans. In its beautiful cathedral is still seen the sepul- 
chral monument of Don Jayme I. of Mallorca. Cities on the 

297 Don Jayme I., el Conquistador, King of Aragon 1 1276. 



Don Pedro III., 

King of Aragon, 

12T6-12S5. 

Married to Constance, 

of Hohenstaufen. 



Jayme I., 

King of Mallorca, 

1262-1302. 

Sancho, King 
1302-1325. 



Jay'mk II. 

1325-1849. 

Married to Constance of Ar-igon. 



198 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. AEAGON— NAVARRA. 



smaller island of Minorca were Ciucladela and Mahon 
(Mago), with one of the finest ports on the Mediterranean. 

599. V. The kiiig'dom of Sicily or Trinacria. — The Si- 
cilians had throv/n off the yoke of Charles of Anjou and Na- 
ples on the Sicilian Vespers (423). They gave the crown of 
Trinacria, for they resumed the ancient name of the island, to 
the able and successful Don Fadrique II., who maintained his 
independence of Naples.'"' After the most devastating wars 
with the Angevin Kings of Naples, and civil feuds between 
the Catalan and Chiaramontese (Sicilian) parties, the island was 
united with the Aragonese crown in 1412. During this period 
it became divided into I. Val di Demona^ east, with the mar- 
graviate of Randazzo, the counties of Adrani, Ay done, Mis- 
tretta, Minco (the latter four belonging to noble Catalan fami- 
lies), Monforte, Gerace, Augusta, and others, with the cities of 
Catatiia, Syracusa, Messina, Patti, Naso, Zampullo, and 
Ccfalu, all celebrated by the military events of those times. 
II. Val di Mazzara, west, with the counties of Palizzi and 
Ciacomo (of the Chiaramontesi), and the cities Palermo, the 
capital, Castellaniare, Trapani, Mazzara, Salemi, and Sci- 
acca. III. Val d'Agrigento southwest, with the counties of 
Camarata, Calatabellota, and Siculiana, and the cities of 
Agrigento siaA Castro-ja?ini ; and IV., Fa^ (fi iVo^o southeast, 
embracing the possessions of the turbulent Chiaramontesi, and 
the principality of Butera, belonging to the Catalan nobles of 
Alagona, with the towns Noto, Modica, and Alicata. To the 
kingdom of Trinacria belonged the islands of Malta, Gozzo, 
and Pantalaria. On the eastern coast of Tunis, the Catalans 
had occupied the important islands of Carchis (Kerkeri) and 
Gerbes (Zerbi), with the castles of Zadaica, Cantara, and 
Ao-irra. and the fortresses of Alcoll and Temolum, on the 
mainland of Africa, which were bravely defended by Aragon- 
ese garrisons, and were useful depots for the commerce on 
the shores of Barbary, and ports of refuge for the Catalan 
fleets. But, during the internal disturbances in Sicily, and 
those in Valencia, against Alonso IV., the Saracen inhabit- 
ants of Gerbes rebelled ; they obtained aid from the Tunese 
and the Neapolitans, and, driving off the Sicilians, Carchis 
and the other possessions were lost in 1336. 

VI. The island of Sardinia, divided into its four jurisdic- 
tions (323), the judges of which sometimes would take the 
royal title, was a bone of contention between the rival re- 
publics, Genoa and Pisa. The noble house of Oria, and the 
Margraves of Malaspina, held with Genoa, while the judge of 
Arhorea, and the Counts of Bas and Donoratico, raised the 
banner of Pisa. The prudent Don Jayme I. gained the good 
will of all parties, and, landing with a powerful fleet, in 1323, 
the Aragonese were received with open arms. Nobles and com- 
moners pressed around the old hero of thirty battles ; the Pi- 
sans were defeated near Cagliari, and after the surrender of 
its strong fortress, that fertile and beautiful island was, by the 
treaty of 1326, united to the Aragonese empire. 

600. Ecclesiastical Division of Aragon. — I., Provincia 
Tarraconensis, with the archiepiscopal see in Tarragona, 
the suffragan churches of Barcinona, Gcrunda (Girona), Bi- 
sulduniim (Besalu), Atisona, TJrgellis, Solsona, and Ilerda 
(Lerida). II. Provincia C^esaraugustana was erected by 
Pope John XXII., in 1318, from the western portion of the 
province of Tarragona ; it had the see in Zaragoza, on the 

'°^ Trinacrian Kings until the permanent union with Aragon : Pe- 
dro lU. of Aragon, 1282-]285. Jayme II., 1285-1291. Fadrique 
(Frederic) II., 1291-1S37. Pedro II., 133'7-1342. Louis, 1342-1355. 
Fadrique III, el Tonto, 1355-1377. Martin the Younger, 1377-1409. 
Martin the Elder (succeeds his son), 1409-1410. Fernando I. of Aragon 
and Sicily, 1412-1416. Sicily remains thenceforth united with tlie 
Sp.inish monarchj' until the general peace of Utrecht, in 1713. 



Ebro, with gorgeous cathedral and convents, and embraced six 
sufl'ragans, those of Jaca, Osca (Huesca), Balastro, Tirazo- 
na. Albarracin, and Tcruel. III., Provincia Valentina, 
comprising the southern part of Valencia, and the Balearic 
islands. Valencia was the archiepiscopal throne, with three 
suffragans, Segorbe, Orihiiela, and Pahna, on Mayorca. 
Aragon had four universities : those of Lerida (from 1245), 
Huesca (1354), Barcelona (1430), and Valencia (1410), 
which latter had six chairs for the Latin, and two for the 
Greek language and literature.^™ 

XIII. Kingdom of Navarra. 

601. Extent and Government. — This small and histori- 
cally unimportant state embraced the upper valleys of the 
western Pyrenees, and bordered north on France, west on 
Biscay ; on the south, the Ebro separated it from Castile, and 
the river Aragon from the kingdom of that name on the east. 
The royal dynasty of Don Garcias VI., Ramirez (318), be- 
came extinct with Sancho VI., in 1234, and the Count Thie- 
bault I. of Champagne, inherited the throne. On the decease 
of Henry I., the last scion of this house, in 1274, the queen 
married her daughter, Juanna, to King Philipp le Bel, and 
Navarra became thus united to France during fifty-five years. 
But Philipp VI. of Valois, in 1 328, was anxious to rid him- 
self of one of his most dangerous competitors for the throno 
of France, by surrendering the kingdom of Navarra to Philipp, 
Count of Evreux (306, 393), married to Jeanne, daughter of 
Louis X. This separation from France was hailed with joy 
by the Navarrese, and those wild mountaineers celebrated the 
festival of their independence with the horrible slaughter of 
ten thousand Jews, who were settled among them, and had 
enjoyed the protection of the French kings, whose bankers they 
were.^"" Charles the Bad took a pernicious part in the struggles 
of France, without any benefit to Navarra. There, the hos- 
tile factions of the Beaumonts and Agramonts involved the 
country in the fiercest civil wars, which only terminated with 
the destruction of the unhappy Prince Carlos de Viana, in 
1462. Navarra was always- exposed to the conflicting influ- 
ences of France and Aragon, and could never gather its 
strength. Its states enjoyed great privileges which were pre- 
served by the frequent changes of the dynasties. The Kings 
of Navarra were surrounded by a council of twelve members, 
chosen from the high nobility. The Cortes were composed 
of the three estates : nobility, clergy, and the deputies of 
twenty-five cities, which had early obtained their different sta- 
tutes — -foros. The Navarrese had a high school in Tudela, on 
the Ebro, but most of their youths went to finish their studies 
either in Lerida, Toulouse, or Montpellier ; and general edu- 
cation made only slow progress in a country where commerce 
and industry were neglected. 

602. Division, Cities, and Historical Places — The 
small state was divided into six provinces — merindades — 

'''•" Garcias, the ambassador of King Alonso V., a native Catalan, de- 
livered so elegant an oration in the Latin language, before Pope Sixtus 
IV., that the Italian pedants present looked at one another in astonish- 
ment, and the celebrated Pomponius Lsetus exclaimed, full of admira- 
tion : " Who is the Barbarian that speaks with such eloquence ? " A Na- 
varrese Prince translated some of the works of Aristotle, from the Latin 
into Spanish. 

'"^ Kings of the Evereux dynasty were : Philipp, 1328-1343. Charles 
L, le Mauvais, 1343-1387. Charles IL, le Genereux, 1387-1425. Juan 
II. of Aragon, 1425-1479. The unhappy Blanche of Aragon was forced 
to renounce the throne, and perished, poisoned by her sister, Eleanor of 
Foix, who inherited Navarra, but died three weeks after her father, 
Juan 11, in 1479. Francis the Handsome (Phobus), of Beam, 1479-1483. 
Jean d'Albret, 1483-1516, last King of Navarra: the country was then 
conquered by Fernando, d Catolico, and united with Spain. 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. GRANADA. 



199 



five of which lay in the south of the Pyrenees, and one on the 
north, called Mermdad de tdtra puertos. Pamplona, on the 
Arga, was the capital. Ayhar and Sanguesa, on the river 
Aragon, Estrella, Olite, and the gloomy castle of Orthez, in 
the Beam, were all the scenes of melancholy events in the 
history of Carlos de Viana and his no less unhappy sister 
Blanche de Navarra.^" Navarra formed the bishopric of Pam- 
piluna, belonging to the ecclesiastical province of Burgos 
(593). 

XIV. The Mohammedan Kingdom of Granada. 

603. Extent, Government, and Civil Feuds. — After 
the defeat of the African Moors at Tolosa (587), and the sub- 
sequent downfall of the Almohad dynasty in Spain, the pro- 
vince of Granada became the centre of a limited, but powerful 
kingdom. The active and generous Wali Mohammed Ebn 
Alhamar was raised to the throne in 1232, and secured the 
tranquillity in the interior by the encouragement he awarded 
to commerce, industry, and agriculture, and peace abroad by 
rendering nominal homage to the King of Castile. Thougli 
Granada, in the subsequent century, lost all the fertile lands 
on the Lower Guadalquivir, Xeres, Tarifa, Algeziras^Tind. Gib- 
raltar^ it still contained within the circuit of one hundred 
and eighty leagues, all the physical resources of a strong em- 
pire, which, by the valor of its Alhamarid monarchs, the en- 
thusiasm of its dense population, and the strength of its rock- 
bound frontiers, for more than two centuries — 1232-1492 — 
resisted the united forces of the Spanish monarchies. The 
influx of Saracen exiles from the provinces lately conquered 
by the Christian arms, rapidly increased the number of its de- 
fenders, while the internal disturbances in Castile during the 
reign of Don Pedro el Cruel and the weak kings of the Tras- 
tamara dynasty, left the Granadians periods of comparative 
tranquillity for the development of a higher civilization in 
commerce, science and arts. Agriculture, too, was held in re- 
spect, and carried to a high degree of excellence. ^"^ Their 
manufactures of woollen cloths, cotton, and flax, were impor- 
tant objects of export, and the sword blades, armor, and dyed 
leather (cordwain), of Granada, were, during that period, the 
best in Europe. Their commerce extended to Egypt and 
India. Thus an immense wealth and all the enjoyments and 
comforts of life were concentred in this delightful region, so 
bountifully blessed by nature. Refined manners, a chivalrous 
affection for the fair sex, and, in consequence, an honorable 
position of woman in society, brilliant valor, love for poetry, 
music, and rural occupations, blended with the wildest pas- 
sions of part}!- spirit, revenge, and deadly feuds, characterized 
the hot-blooded and generous Granadian cavaliers. Supported 
by their African allies, the Alhamarids attempted to throw 
off the forced allegiance to the Castilian Kings. Within 
Granada itself contending parties arose among the nobles, 
whose influence decided the succession of the throne, and the 
direction of the government. One king armed against the 
other, fearful revolutions shook the throne ; *" nay, the hostile 
parties called the Castilian enemy to their support. Yet, 

*°'See Presoott's History of Ferdinand and Isabella, vol. I., cap. 2, 
and for the ultimate catastrophe of Navai-ra, in 1516, vol. III., cap. 23. 
^"'^ Christian Spain was indebted to the Moslem Granadians for the 
introduction of her most exquisite fruits and horticultural products, for 
the sugar cane, cotton, silk, the skilful cultui-e of the mulberry tree, 
and the ingenious mode of irrigation, and thus, by the distribution of 
the waters transforming the desert into a Paradise. 

"'^From the accession of Mohammed I. Ebn Alhamar, in 1232, to 
the last King, Abdallah el Zaguir, by the Spaniards called Boabdeli, 
or el Bey Chico (the Pigmy King), in 1492, twenty-three kings had oc- 
cupied the glittering throne of the Alhambra, and tasted the bitter cup 
of human gveatnes.';. 



while the wars raged on the frontiers, and one border castle 
fell into the power of the Christians after the other, the Gra- 
nadians still continued to shed their blood in civil contests, 
and it was at last, the rebellion of Abdallah el Zaquir (the 
Drunkard) against his uncle, Abdallah el Zagal (the Daunt- 
less) — which, after the most determined resistance of the Gra- 
nadians, opened the gates of the splendid capital to the armies 
of Ferdinand and Isabella, on the 2d of January, 1492, and 
put an end to the Mohammedan dominion in the Peninsula. 

604. Division — Cities and Historical Sites. — After the 
loss of Algeziras and Gibraltar in 1344, the western frontier 
of the kingdom ran through the deep valley of Wady-Ara, 
along the northern declivity of the Sierra de Antequera, and 
was protected by the strongly-situated cities of Ronda, Loja, 
Antequera, Alhama, and the numerous border-castles, crown- 
ing every hill in the northern districts of Kalaat Jahasseb, 
El Fandak^ and Bordshila-el-Baljul, opposite to the Castilian 
provinces of Cordova and Jaen. On the northeast, the 
fertile region of Kastaluna was defended by the towering 
Djebal Samantan (now Monte Cazorta), which separated 
Granada from Murcia, while the eastern declivity of Sierra 
Nevada presented a formidable frontier line of deep, rocky 
defiles, and the mountain-forts of Yalad-al-Alhiad (Velez-el- 
Blanco), Valad-al- Alimar (Velez-el-Rubio), and Bur^hana ; 
and Almeria on the sea-coast. The city of Granada (Arabic, 
Garnatha, or Garb-Naath), the capital of the empire, was 
situated on the northern declivity of Djehul Kais (Sierra 
Nevada), in the plain of the river Xenil, sufllciently protected 
on the east by the fortresses of Wady-Asch (Guadix) and 
Basatha (Baza), on the south by the snow-capped range of 
the mountains, and on the west by Alhdtna and the other 
above-mentioned cities. Only in the north the valley of the 
Xenil opened on the plain of the Guadalquivir, and the city 
was therefore often exposed to the sudden incursions of the 
Castilian chivalry ; there, too, Isabella fixed her camp, and 
built her threatening town of Santa-Fe. It was to the Almo- 
had and Alhamarid dynasties that Granada owed the Alhambra 
with its wonders, the splendid mosques — aljamas — caravan- 
serais, bazaars, aqueducts, bridges, hospitals, public baths, and 
all the other liberal institutions of Mohammedan piety. 
What Cordova had been in the ninth century, Granada became 
in the fifteenth. It contained then four hundred thousand 
inhabitants, and occupied a circumference of three leagues, 
which was defended by ranges of walls with more than a 
thousand towers. Yet the Moorish capital was as celebrated 
for the industry of its citizens, the learning of its Aliinans 
and Alchatibs, as for the magnificence of its royalty and the 
valor of its knights, — and it is with a feeling of sorrow and 
regret that we read in Don Hurtado de Mendoza, the misery 
and ruin which the narrow-minded politics of the Spanish 
monarchs, and the terrors of the Inquisition, brought on this 
happy country, when the cross was planted on the Alhambra, 
and Granada sank with the nation that preferred exile and 
death to despotism and bigotry,^"^ Al-Jiamam (Alhama), 
situated in the upper range of the mountains of Antequera, 
eight leagues southwest of Granada was the frequent retreat 
of the Moorish kings, who in those elevated regions enjoyed 
the delicious thermal springs, that gave the town its Arabic 
name. Being surrounded by fearful precipices and walls con- 
sidered impregnable, Alhama became the principal depot of 
the royal revenues. But in 1481 it was surprised and taken 

'" Only one branch of the ancient Granadian industry, that of the 
Albaycin cloth manufactures by Moorish refugees from Baeza, is still 
carried on, but it stands in the same proportion to those of old as the 
gloomy convents and unfinished churches and palaces of Cliarles V. do 
to the fairy h.alls of the .\lhambra. 



200 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. SPAIN— ITALY. 



by Don Roderigo Ponce de Leon and a band of daring knights, 
■who held it gloriously in spite of all the desperate attempts of 
the old king, Muley Abul Hassan, to recover it. Southwest, on 
the coast, lay the splendid city Malakka (Malaga), and more 
inland, the strong Balesh (Velez-Malaga), which were both 
taken by King Fernando in 1487, after the bravest defence 
of their high-minded and wealthy citizens. Al-Mankeb 
(Almuuecar), east of Malaga, on the rocky coast, was the 
strong castle in which the Moorish kings used to imprison 
their rebellious relatives and hoard their treasures. At Loja, 
west, on the Wady-al-Jora, and in the defiles of Alxarquia, 
south of Antequera, the Spaniards suifered severe defeats in 
1483. Almeria, on the coast, and the border castles T^ahara, 
Madrono^ Moclin, Alcoy, Orez, Albox, and many others, 
became celebrated during the border warfare of the times. 
Padul, the summit of Mount Alpujarras, south of Granada, 
was the spot (still called El ultimo sosjnro del Mow), where 
the unha,ppy Abdallah (Boabdil) took the last look at Jjiis 
capital, on his departure after the surrender in 1 492, and his 
mother, the masculine Ayxa, upbraided him his tears with 
saying, " Well doest thou to weep like a woman for a city 
thou wouldst not defend like a man ! " 

605. Such was the state of the Hispanic Peninsula about 
the middle of the fifteenth century. Granada, in civilization 
and arts, wealth and comfort, stood high above the Christian 
states. Portugal had opened its brilliant career on the 
Atlantic Ocean ; Aragon, strong by its excellent constitution 
and its maritime possessions, extended its influence over 
Italy; Navarra, with its outward tincture of French gayety 
and glitter, remained savage and poor, while Castile, passing 
through the alembic of her civil wars, recovered her strength 
ajid her virtue in the energetic reign of Fernando and 
Isabel.^"' 

^"^ A very Tinfavorable, but no doubt faithful, description of the 
desolate and demoralized condition of Castile, during the civil war in 
1466, written by intelligent contemporaneous travellers, was last year 
published in Germany. Tliis curious book, in the quaint old German 
of the fifteenth century, carries the reader through Germany, Bur- 
gundy (the Netherlands), England, France, Spain, Italy, and Hungary. 
The authors were Schassek and Tetzel, the former a Bohemian, the 
latter a Nurnberger Doctor, both acting as secretaries to several Bohe- 
mian (Hussite) noblemen, who in that year — 1466 — undertook a grand 
tour through Europe. From England the travellers arrived in Castile, 
which is described as an uncultivated country, a di'eary wilderness 
covered with box and rosemary, where the travellers were continually 
exposed to the attacks of prowling robbers or pilfering gypsies. The 
Castilian people appeared to them as a proud, irascible, jealous, inhos- 
pitable, shabby, and cruel race, reckless alike of the lives of others and 
their own, ever and anon insulting the foreign cavaliers, and throwing 
stones at them. In every town they beheld permanent gibbet-trees 
hanging full of ghastly fruits ; they saw culprits chained to iron bars 
between lighted piles of wood, by which their flesh was roasted alive, 
and nothing but charred skeletons left. The' Spanish prelates they de- 
scribe as turbulent and luxurious; the priests as ignorant and venal. 
The knights were dressed in the flowing drapery of the East, in imita- 
tion of the Arabs, and galloping along on light jeneis or barbs, they 
considered them unable to withstand the shock of the French or 
English chivalry. The Spanish ladies, too, wore Oriental dresses; they 
covered their faces with veils, and smeared their eye-brows and chins 
with black and purple ointments. " In a word," saj's the honest Tet- 
zel, the secretary, " the Spanish people are so mixed up with Jews and 
Saracens, as to be worse than either, and more Heathen than Chris- 
tian 1 " The whole Peninsula was toi'n by party feuds, every one 
hating his neighbor, and thinking only of selfish interests. Though 
Aragon was in a much better condition tlian Castile, yet it was oulv 
after a hundred hairbreadth escapes from the kidnapping land-rats 
(Almugavars) of Aragon and the water-rats (pirates) of Catalonia, that 
our jaded travellers could escape across the Tuscan sea to Italy. (See 
London Quarterly Review for April, 1852.) 



XV. The Italian Principalities and Republics, a. d. 1450. 

606. Historical Remarks. — During the two centuries 
which followed the Lombard League — 1250-1450 — the 
political and geographical aspect of Northern Italy has 
undergone a total change. The warlike and tumultuous 
republican cities, and the principalities of the powerful 
families which succeeded them, have nearly all disappeared. 
.Venice has occupied the cities and districts situated in the 
eastern moiety of Northern Italy, between the Adda, the 
Oglio, and the Adriatic Gulf; she has dispossessed all the 
petty princes of their territories, and confined the Patriarch 
of Aqidleja to some insignificant tracts on the coast. Next 
in power stands Milan, which, under the sway of the families 
of Delia Torre and the Visconti (414), has become an inde- 
pendent sovereignty, only nominally recognizing the supre- 
macy of the German emperor. In the west. Savoy (413, III.) 
has extended its dominion north of the Alps into Lesser Bur- 
gundy, and subjugated the smaller territories between the 
mountains and the Gulf of Genoa. The principality of Astj 
(411) belongs to the Princes of Orleans in France. The 
Marquis of Montferrat is an independent sovereign. Man- 
tua is hereditary in the family of Gonzaga. Carpi, Cor- 
REGGio, and Mirandola, south of the Po, form small princi- 
palities. The house of Este, descending from the Italian 
Guelfs, has enlarged its dominion by Papal fiefs. Tuscany is 
now divided between the two republics, Florence and Siena ; 
only Lucca has preserved its doubtful independence in the 
corner of Mount Apennine. The German kings had made 
frequent but unsuccessful attempts to restore the influence of 
the ancient empire in Italy; Henry VII., honest and brave, 
fell by poison ; Louis of Bavaria, alike treacherous to friend 
and foe — to Ghibelline and Guelf — fled, detested by both. 
King John of Bohemia came and went like a Quixotic knight- 
errant. His son, Charles IV., appeared as a trim but penni- 
less courtier, a harmless candidate for the Roman crown, 
without army or treasure, and selling the last remaining 
imperial fiefs to the highest bidder, in order to pay his passage 
back to Germany. Thus, in the fifteenth century, we find fair 
Italy left entirely to herself, and if it was not to her a period 
of peace and unclouded serenity, the cause lay in her political 
position, and in the character of her inhabitants. Yet she 
had at least expelled her foreign masters, and if her own 
princes, into whose arms she had thrown herself, still quar- 
relled and fought, they were now moved by their own Italian 
ambition and politics. The German and English mercenaries, 
the Werners and Hawkwoods. had perished, and Italy beheld 
with a certain national pride, a new school of warriors, the 
ofi"spring of her soil, the Carmagnolas, the Braccios, and the 
Sforzas, who, by a higher and more humane organization of 
their armies, fought out the disputes of the Italian States 
among themselves ; and while these native condotticri tilted 
with their lances and ransomed their prisoners in all polite- 
ness and etiquette, the larger republics and principalities, 
Venice, Florence, Milan, and Naples, formed confederacies for 
a political balance of power, which secured a certain tran- 
quillity and independence to all. The Pope himself was, 
about a. d. 1450, at the head of such an Italian Alliance, and 
later, the admirable Lorenzo de Medici placed Italy beyond 
the hazard of foreign invasion. It was not until after 
the death of that great statesman, in 1492, at the close 
of the fifteenth century and the beginning of the Modern 
Era, that the gathering storms broke loose at once over 
that prosperous country. Italy stood then at the head of 
European civilization, in commerce, science, and art; the 
fourteenth century was the era of Genius — of Dante, Pe- 
trarch, and Boccace; the fifteenth that of classical learning 



EIGHTH PEKIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. ITALY. 



201 



and research. This general burst of mental activity ennobled 
the sentiments of the Italian nation ; their extensive com- 
merce and multifarious industry refined the manners, and thus 
we discover, amidst petty wars of envy and ambition, an 
extraordinary progress towards a higher development in Italy 
during the period between Dante, the stern Ghibeline partisan, 
and Lorenzo, the princely preserver of peace. 

607. States of Northern Italy. — I. The Republic of 
Saint Mark. — The great event which formed a period in the 
history of the Venetian constitution and politics was the noise- 
less victory of the wealthy aristocratical families, which, by the 
closing of the grand council — la serratura del maggior consig- 
lio — in 1297, brought the entire government into their hands. 
Venice thus became a close and selfish oligarchy; she strait- 
ened her constitution in 1311 by the creation of the Council 
of the Ten Signers of the Black Robe — i neri — who, with 
the Doge as their president, gave a new direction to her 
government — a fearful despotism at home and continental 
conquests abroad. 

In 1450, the dominion of the Republic of Saint Mark 
embraced the territories of Bergamo^ Br-escia, Verona^ and 
Vicenza, conquered from the family of Delia Scala; Feltre, 
Roveredo, Bdluno, Cadore, Friuli, Treviso, and Padua^ the 
latter two treacherously wrested from the unhappy princes of 
Carrara in 1406. Within the territory of the Duchy of Milan, 
Venice possessed the city of Crema, and south of the Po she 
had conquered the important Kavemia and Bagno-cavallo in 
1441 ; nay, she extended her grasping hand as far as the 
coasts of Naples, where she at a later period held the ports of 
Tra7ii, Bri?tdisi, Gallipoli, Fugliano^ and Otranto. 

During this period of her highest power, her Eastern 
Empire consisted of — 1, the Istrian Peninsula, with the 
duchies Zara and Sebenico^ on the mainland, and the Dal- 
matian Islands ; 2, Scutari and Durazzo in Upper Albania ; 
3, the Ionian Islands, with Buthrinto, Parga, Prevesa, and 
Arta, in Epirus, Vostizza and Anatolico in Acarnania, and 
Naupactus (Lepanto) in ^tolia ; 4, in the Morea, Patrasso, 
Chiarenza (Glarenza, 358), Modon, Corofi, Monembasia, part 
of Lacedcsmonia and Argos ; and 5, the Grecian Islands 
(359), with Negroponte, Candia, and, in 1473, the fertile and 
beautiful Cyprus?"^ 

608. Venice had become a splendid city, and the finest 
monuments of the celebrated Place of Saint Mark date from 
this era of conquest, wealth, and prosperity. Yet her most 
gigantic undertaking was the Long Walls — i murazzi — 
running for twenty-five miles from Torcello, on the north, 
along the narrow eastern coast southward by Malamocco and 
Palestrina to Chiozza, to protect the lagoons and the proud 
Bride of Saint Mark herself from the irruption of the 
Adriatic. The Murazzi became, in 1379-81, the scene of 
the fearful attack of the victorious Genoese, which brought 
Venice to the brink of destruction ; but by the timely arrival 
of Carlo Zeno and the Levantine fleet, terminated with the 
celebrated siege of Chiozza, on the south of the Lagoons, the 
battle of Brondolo, and the defeat and surrender of the entire 
fleet and army of the Genoese on the 21st of June, 1381. 
On the shores of the lake of Garda took place, in 1439, that 
highly remarkable campaign between Francesco Sforza, the 
general of the united republics of Venice and Florence, and 
Piccinino, the lieutenant of the Duke of Milan, the two 
greatest condottieri of the age, during which the Venetians, 
with extraordinary exertions, transported an entire fleet of 

'"^ The narrow space left us does not permit us to go into any 
detail. 

26 



galleys and armed barks across the rugged mountains of Bas- 
sano into the lake, and defeating Piccinino at Tenna and <Sa/6, 
relieved Brescia, and recaptured Verona, by military skill, 
bravery, and the boldest stratagems. But Venice had not 
preserved her ancient Italian virtues, and we turn with dis- 
gust from the relation of the frightful political crimes and 
treacheries by which she succeeded for the time to unite and 
consolidate her mighty empire on sea and land. 

609. II. The Duchy of Milan, under the sway of the 
family of Visconti from 1284 to 1447, embraced the ancient 
archbishopric (407), the county of Pavia, Cremona, Parma, 
Piacenza, Bobbio, Tortona, Alessandria, Novara, the terri- 
tory of Rusca, situated between the lakes of Como, Lugano, 
and Maggiore, and in the north, the Val di Sesia, Duomo 
d'Ossola, Val JLevantina, and Valtellina, where the dukes 
encountered the Swiss mountaineers in many a hard-fought 
battle. Gian Galeazzo Visconti, the first Duke of Milan, 
built in 1386 the magnificent cathedral — il Duomo — and in 
1396 the Carthusian Convent — la Certosa — near Pavia, where 
his gorgeous mausoleum gives testimony to the wealth and 
artistic skill of the time. Pavia and Piacenza possessed 
flourishing universities. Arbedo, in the Val Levantina, 
Macalo, on the Oglio, and the city of Brescia, became in 
1422-1427 the scene of the victories of the celebrated Con- 
dottiere Francesco Carmagnola, who, as general of the Vene- 
tians, was treacherously decoyed to Venice, and most unjustly 
put to the torture, and beheaded in 1432. At Caravaggio, in 
the swamps of the Adda, Francesco Sforza defeated and 
captured the entire Venetian army in 1448; but, suddenly 
entering into an alliance with that republic, the perfidious 
Condottiere marched his army against Milan, and was pro- 
claimed Duke in 1450. Sforza was, however, a great states- 
man; he secured the tranquillity of Italy, and after a 
brilliant reign, left his throne to his son Galeazzo, on his 
death, in 1466. 

610. III. The Republic of Genoa, the most turbulent 
of all the Italian democracies, possessed — I. The Ligurian 
coastland, from Monaco, on the west, eastward to Lerici, on 
the frontiers of the territory of the Counts of Malaspina 
with the capital of Genova La Superba,, Savona, Albenga, 
Oneglia, Ventimiglia, the excellent harbor of Spezzia, and 
numerous castles on Mount Apennine, which belonged to the 
noble families of the Doria, Fieschi, Spinola, Grimaldi, Bocca- 
nera, Giustiniani, and others. II. The island of Corsica, 
which was permanently occupied by the Genoese in 1284, after 
the disastrous defeat of the Pisan fleet off the island of Mel- 
lorca (417). The republic did not, however, obtain a quiet 
possession of that island ; it was for a long time the apple of 
discord between the rival Catalans (596) and Genoese, and the 
latter, though often driven out, obtained ultimately the upper 
hand. Corsica was divided into Terra Commune, north of 
the mountains, and Terra di Cinarca, on the south. Bastia, 
Calvi, Ajaccio, San Bonifacio, Aleria, and Cinarca, were 
the most important towns. The fierce Corsican mountaineers 
were governed with an iron rod, and their frequent insurrec- 
tions gave much trouble to Genoa. III. The Grecian Islands, 
Chios, Samos, Nicaria, Psara, Metelino (Lesbos), Stalimene 
(Lemnos), hnbros, Tenedos, Thasos, Samothraki, and the 
strongly fortified city and port of Famagusta, on the 
eastern coast of Cyprus. IV. Pera and Galatd, on the 
Golden Horn, opposite to Constantinople, was the great 
emporium of eastern commerce, which the Genoese lost after 
the conquest of the Greek capital by Sultan Mohammed II. 
in 1453. V. The important colonies in the Tattrid Penin- 
sula (Crimea), and on the adjacent coast of the Sea of Azof. 



202 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. ITALY. 



Caffa (Feodosia), on the eastern shore of the Crimea, was a 
splendid city, with 36,000 houses within the walls, and 8000 
in the extensive suburbs, inferior only to Genoa herself, and 
proudly called the Lesser Constantinople. Smaller cities 
were Soldaja, Chersoneso, KatoUmne, and Po7iclic6, on the 
straits; San Giorgio, Pallastra, and Tana (Azof), on the 
mainland. These possessions, with their rich bazaars and 
depots of eastern commerce, were swept away by the invasion 
of Mohammed II. in 1475. Euinous cities and castles now 
cover the site. of Genoese power and glory. 

611. IV. The Duchy of Savoy (413) acquired under its 
first duke, Amadeus VIII., Vercelli in 1427. Several of its 
southern territories, such as Chierasco, Savigliano, Cuneo, 
and MoJidovi, were still in the possession of the Provencals. 
Duke Louis — 1439-1465 — married Anna of Lusignan, with 
the hope of obtaining the island of Cyprus, but Venetian 
intrigue despoiled him of all his rights, and he gained nothing 
but the empty title of King of Cy2^rus. 

V. The Marquisate of Montferrat, with the cities Alba^ 
Nizza, Acgui, Casali, Chiavasso, the margraviate of Carretto, 
and the southern territory of the Langhe, which remained fiefs 
of the German empire, 

VI. AsTi (411), with its territory, belonged to the Duke 
Louis of Orleans as dower of his wife, Valentina Visconti. 
The pretensions of Louis XII., as Duke of Orleans, caused 
the second invasion of Italy by the French in 1499. 

VII. The smaller sovereignities of the Malaspina, Pala- 

VICINO, GoNZAGA, CORREGGIO, PlO DI CaRPI, PiCO DI MiRAN- 

DOLA, and the ancient marquisate of Este. 

612. States of Central Italy. — I. The Eepublic of 
Florence (416) had preserved its admirable constitution 
during the storms of the fourteenth century, and enjoyed the 
highest development of its commercial and literary activity in 
the fifteenth, under the sway of her distinguished citizens, 
Cosmo and Lorenzo of Medici. Pisa, with Livorno (Leg- 
born) and part of the Mdremme, Arezzo, and Cortona, had 
been incorporated in her territory, which now extended 
eastward across Mount Apennine, and south to the lake of 
Perugia. 

II. The Republic of Siena preserved likewise her liberty 
under continual contentions between the nobles and com- 
moners. She remained the faithful ally of the Medici, and 
extended her territory throughout the ancient palatinate of 
Tuscia and the islands Elba, Pianosa, and Giglio. 

III. The Republic of Lucca had taken an active part in 
all the movements of the fourteenth century. After the death 
of her illustrious captain, Castruccio Castracani, she was con- 
quered by the Florentines, but she soon threw off the yoke, 
and recovered her liberty and popular government. Lucca 
took no part in the movements of the time, and sank, later 
back, into profound obscurity. Her territory reached to the 
Garfagnana in Mount Apennine, whose defiles were protected 
by the important fortress of Pietrd Santa. 

XVI.— The Papal State. 

613. Acquisitions of Territory. — The downfall of the 
Souabian house, and the troubles in Germany (394, 511) had 
given the Popes free hand in Italy ; yet, instead of contributing 
to the work of peace, their ambition and thirst of dominion rose 
to the highest pitch. They involved themselves in endless 
wars with their neighbors, and found their most inveterate 
opponents in the noble families of the Colonna, Orsini, 
Savelli, Conti, and others in the environs of Rome herself ^"^ 

"" See the remarkable passage in Maehiavelli : Icieli fecevo oreseere 



The humiliation of Pope Boniface VIII., the long residence 
of his successors in Avignon — 1305-1378 — and the great 
schism that followed, brought confusion into the administra- 
tion of the church, and undermined the authority of the 
Popes. Yet during that period of disorder, they artfully 
extended their dominion over Bologna, Ferrara, and the 
whole of Pomagna, where the Spanish Cardinal Albornoz, in 
1354-1358, with more ability in intrigue than military talent, 
succeeded in setting the petty tyrants at variance one with 
the other, and in deposing and subduing them all. These 
princes were the MaJatesti, seignors of Rimini, Pesaro, and 
Fano, the Montefeltri of Urbino, the Varani of Camerino, 
the Ordelafi of Forli and Cesena, the Manfredi of Faenza, 
the Alidosi of Imola, and the Gahrielli of Gubbio in Mount 
Apennine. Thus the Papal State in the fifteenth century was 
bounded on the north by the river Po, and on the south by 
the Kingdom of Naples. It embraced — I. The ancient 
Patrimony of Saint Peter with Pome, the Campagna, 
Maritima, and Sabina. II. JJrabria, with Spoleto, Fuligno, 
and Perugia. III. The March of Ancona, with the cele- 
brated sanctuary San Loretto. IV. Romagna. V. Ferrara, 
RoviGO, and other fiefs of the family of Este. VI. Bologna 
and its territory. That rich and tumultuous republic soon 
threw off the yoke. VII. Benevento and Ponte Corvo in 
the Kingdom of Naples. VIII. The counties of Avignon 
and Venaissin in France (502). The city of Avignon, on 
the banks of the Rhone, between the rivers Sorgues and 
Durance, became in the fourteenth century the centre of all 
the ecclesiastical and political interests of Europe during the 
long residence of the Popes. Many ruinous Gothic palaces, 
churches, and convents, still remind the traveller of those 
times. In the charming valley of Vauduse (the shut valley) 
Petrarch sought in vain a solitary retreat to forget his passion 
for Laura de Sade. Her paternal castle of Saumane lies 
high on the mountain, northeast of the valley. There, in the 
grotto of the Sorgues, the young Tuscan poet composed those 
pure and exalted effusions of the heart, which remain the most 
beautifvil lyrical poetry of any modern tongue. 



XVII. — The Kingdom of Naples. 

614. The Angevin and Aragonian Dynasties. — Naples 
had seen her happiest days during the reign of the Souabian 
House (423). From a first rate power controlling the destiny 
of Italy, that rich and brilliant sovereignty sank into insig- 
nificance. Naples, under the Angevin princes, after the 
massacres of Sicily, the defeat and capture of Prince Charles 
the Lame in 1284, and the death of his father. King Charles 
I., the following year, lost entirely her infiuence in the political 
balance. Oppressed by a foreign dynasty, which at once 
abolished the beneficent constitution of Frederic II., without 
patriotism and virtue, the distracted Neapolitan people offered 
no resistance to the invader, and the most beautiful provinces 
of Europe became now for centuries the battle-field on which 
ambitious princes, French, Hungarian, and Aragonese adven- 
turers, or mercenary Italian condottieri, sword in hand, 
disputed with one another the spoils of a defenceless nation. 

in Roma due potentissime famiglie, Colonnesi ed Orsini, accioeche il 
papa quando mancasse degli ostacoli oltramontani non potesse ne fer- 
mare ne godere la potenza sua. Ondeche papa Bonifacio, si volse a 
voleve spegnere i Colonnesi, ed oltre alio avergli scomunicati, bandi 
lore la croeiata contra. II cb6 sebbene offese nlquanto loro, offese piu 
la Chiesa percbe quelle armi le quali per carita della fede aveva vii-tu- 
osamente adoperate, come si volse per propria ambizione ai Cristiani, 
cominciarono a non tagliare. E cosi il troppo desiderio di sfogare il loro 
appetito, faceva che i pontefici appoeo appoco si disarmavano. Le 
Jstorie Fiorenthie, Libro T. 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. ITALY— GREECE. 



203 



Under the auspices of a brilliant French court and chivalric 
army, an absolute goverment was introduced : only the larger 
cities Bari, Brindisi, Taranto, and Naples, retained their 
municipal institutions. To some, written statutes were granted. 
The barons obtained extensive privileges in order to secure 
their military service in the wars with Sicily and Lombardy ; 
while all the estates of the partisans of Manfred and Conra- 
dino were sequestrated and granted to the numerous French 
nobles, the Artois, Cantelmas, •Clermont, cle VEtandart, 
Joinville, Marsiac, Monlfort, Ponsic, and others who had 
followed the Angevin banner. Naples became the royal 
residence, and was adorned with magnificent buildings. The 
strong Castello Nuovo arose. The University of Frederic II. 
was enlarged and endowed, and the supreme tribunal — Gran 
Corte — transported to Naples. One religious fete, tourna- 
ment, or courtly pageantry, followed the other, and kept the 
Neapolitan public in a whirl of excitement, while the provinces 
were plundered, and French corruption bid defiance to every 
feeling of morality and virtue. The licentious reign of Queen 
Giovanna I., the murder of her husband, Andreas of Hungary, 
the subsequent invasion of King Louis with his Hungarian 
hordes, and all the frightful disasters of the contending parties 
of Anjou and Durazzo, together with the treachery of the 
Italian Condottieri, Sforza Attendolo, Braccio da Montone, 
and Caldora, in the times of Queen Giovanna II., brought the 
Neapolitan people into the deepest despair, and it was, there- 
fore, with enthusiasm, and the liveliest hopes of better days, 
that they at last, in 1442, opened their gates to Alfonso the 
Magnanimous of Aragon, who by the union of the kingdoms 
of Naples and Sicily — il regno delle due Sicilie di qua e di 
Id del Faro — with Aragon, rendered himself worthy of the 
affection of his people, and secured his throne to his successors 
at his death, in 1458. 

615. Cities and Historical Sites. — Ajtversa, near Capua, 
where King Andrew was ruthlessly murdered, August 20, 
1345, with the connivance of Queen Giovanna I., who fled to 
Provence after the defeat of her general, Niccolo degli Accia- 
juoli, at Capua, by the Hungarians, in 1348. At the Castle of 
Muro, in the mountains of Basilicata, the old guilty queen 
was smothered by the Hungarian avengers. May 22, 1382. 
JPescara, on the sea-coast, where the celebrated Sforza Atten- 
dolo, while crossing the ford of the river with his heavy armed 
cavalry, sank with his horse and perished, in 1424. Aquila, 
in the Abruzzi, became, in the same year, the battle-field 
between the greatest Condottieri of the time, in which the 
chivalric Braccio da Montone perished, and Queen Giovanna 
II. reoccupied the tottering throne of Naples. Near the 
island of Fonza, opposite to Gaeta, (the scene of the mag- 
nanimous conduct of King Alfonso V.,) that enterprising 
prince was vanquished, in 1435, in the singular naval combat 
in which the Genoese, by skilful manoeuvres, destroyed the 
entire Catalan fleet, and carried the Aragonese monarch with 
all his knights prisoners to Genoa. 

616. The Ecclesiastical Division of Italy. — The Italian 
Peninsula, with the adjacent islands of Sicily, Sardinia, and 
Corsica, consisted, towards the close of the Middle Ages, of 
thirty-eight Ecclesiastical Provinces, with about two hundred 
sufl'ragan Bishoprics. The largest of these, the Roman Pro- 
vince, or Patrimoniiim Sancti Petri, embraced the greater 
part of the Papal State, and extended from the Po along the 
Adriatic, and across Mount Apennine to the river Garigliano 
(Liris) in the Kingdom of Naples. Rome was the Patriarchal 
See, with the following suburbicarian or immediate suffra- 
gans : The Bishops of Porto di San Ippolito, and Ostia, at 
the mouth of the Tiber, Magliano, Frascati, Tivoli, Pales- 



trina, Albano, Segni, and Veletri. Mediate or non-exempt 
sufi'ragans within the frontiers of the Patrimony were the 
Bishops of Terracina, Castro, Sutri, Falera (Falisci), Orta, 
Viterbo, Bagnarea, Anagni, Ferentino, Aletri, Orvieto, 
Nocera, Narni, Rieti, Terni, Amelia, Spoleto, Todi, Foligno, 
Camerino, Assisi (422), Perugia, Cagli, Montefeltro, Pesaro, 
Fano, Fossombrone, Sinigaglia, Jesi, Ancona, Osimo, Re- 
canati, and Macerata. The Bishoprics beyond the frontiers 
of the Patrimony, but belonging as sufiragans to the Roman 
Metropolis, were those of Civita-Ducale, Teramo, Aquila, 
Civita di Penna, Civita di Chieti, Valva, Sulmena, and 
Sora — all situated in the kingdom of Naples. 

617. Ravenna, Urbino, Fermo, and Teate, on the Adri- 
atic coast, formed separate Archiepiscopacies. The other 
Provinces were those of Milan, Aquileja, Grado (with the 
Metropolitan See in Venice), Bologna, Genoa, embracing the 
northern part of Corsica, Pisa, with the south of that island, 
Turin, Florence, Siena, nineteen Neapolitan Sees, among 
which those of Naples, Capua, Benevento, Amalfi, Salerno, 
and Acerenza (Acheruntia), were the largest. Sicily had 
four, those of Syracuse, Messina, Montreale, and Palermo, 
and Sardinia three, Cagliari, Arborea, and Sassari. 

XVIII. — The Prankish Principalities in Greece. 

618. Historical Remarks. — The rapid conquests of the 
Ottoman Turks since the permanent settlement of the sultans 
in Adrianople, in 1361, had changed all the relations in the 
East. The Greek Empire was in 1450 nearly confined to the 
environs of the Capital, and some distant possessions in the 
Morea, while the weak and disunited Latin principalities on 
the mainland already paid tribute to the terrible Sultan. 
After the final conquest of Constantinople, in 1453, those 
small states were all swept away by the scimitar, and only 
George Castriota (Iskanderbei), the hero of Albania, the 
Knights of Rhodes, and the Dukes of the Archipelago, under 
the protection of the Republic of Saint Mark, yet for a time 
ofi'ered a gallant resistance to the victorious arms of Moham- 
med IL 

619. These Prankish or Latin principalities, the relics 
of the Crusading Colonies of the thirteenth and fourteenth 
centuries (336), were : I. The Duchy of Athens and Bceotia ; 
II. , the Duchy of Leucas and Acarnania ; III., the Princi- 
pality of Achaia ; IV., the Duchy of the Archipelago ; V., 
the Genoese Lordships of the Gatelusii and Giustininiani, on 
the ^gean islands; and, VI., the Military Order of Saint 
John, on Rhodes; to which may be added, VII., the Princi- 
pality of Albania, under Georgios Castriota. 

• 

620. I. The Duchy of Athens (355) had, after the defeat 
and death of Walter de Brienne in the battle on the Cephissus 
in Boeotia, in 13 11, been divided among the victorious Catalan 
and Aragonese freebooters. These wild warriors, taking 
possession of the castles and property of the French barons 
slain in the action, and marrying their wives and daughters, 
constituted their government with the title of " The Sovereign 
Army of the Franks in Romania,^'' and elected the French 
knight, Roger Deslau, as their chief. ^°* Yet, in order to keep 
peace at home among themselves, they prudently waged con- 
tinual wars with the neighboring princes of Epirus and Thes- 
saly, and the barons of the Morea. When in 1326, at the 

^"^ Ducange, in his History of the Byzantine Empire (vol. ii.,p. 19V), 
tells us that he had seen a curious document, dated Thebes, in April, 
1314, with tliis inscription: Nos universitas fidelis Francorum exerciius 
in partibus Romanioe existentis. 



204 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. GREECE. 



death of Sir Roger Deslau, they remained without a leader, 
and symptoms of ambition and jealousy began to threaten the 
internal tranquillity of their military republic, they offered 
the sovereiguty of Athens to King Fadrique of Sicily, who 
conferred the duchy on his son, Don Manfredo of Aragon. 
The princes of that house, however, did not take actual pos- 
session of the duchy ; they governed it by their bailiifs, and 
retained only the title of Dukes of Athens and Neopatras 
(594).^"° The military commonwealth of the Catalans being 
recruited by new bands of adventurers from the Spanish Penin- 
sula, remained in hostile relations to the princes of Anjou in the 
Morea, and took an active part in the desperate naval battles 
between the Venetians and Genoese on the Hellespont and 
Bosphorus, in 1354. But, in the contest which arose in 1386, 
between these warriors and Nerio Acciajuoli, the governor of 
Corinth, and guardian of the principality of Achaia, concerning 
the marriage of the wealthy heiress of Soula (Salona), the 
former were defeated and dispersed, and the duchy of Athens 
thus passed by conquest to that noble Florentine family. '" 
Antonio Acciajuoli, the son of Nerio, took possession of 
Athens, and extended his dominion over Bceotia and the 
Isthmus of Corinth. He was an amiable and distinguished 
prince ; under his mild and equitable government Athens 
enjoyed uninterrupted tranquillity for years, while the more 
northern provinces were desolated by the fearful invasions of 
the Ottomans. But this prosperity did not last, and it was 
the Athenians themselves, who, disgusted with the oppression 
and the crimes of Franco Acciajuoli, the last duke, called in 
the Sultan Mohammed II. Thus a Turkish army took posses- 
sion of the city and Acropolis in 1456, and Attica became 
thenceforth a part of the Ottoman Empire. 

621. II. The Duchy of Leucas — Leukadia — (Santa 
Maura) embraced the island of that name, the palatinate of 
CephaIo7iia^It]iaka,Za7ite, the city of Glarenza in Elis, and 
the despotat of Acarnania, at that time consisting of the 
ancient Acarnania, the west of JEtolia, and the southern part 
of Epirus, with Arta for its capital. The duchy was in the 
possession of the Tocchi, a noble family from Benevento, in 
the kingdom of Naples (360). 

III. The Principality of Achaia, or Morea, had, after 
the death of William of Villehardoin, in 1277 (358), with 
the hand of his daughter Isabella, passed to the house of 
Anjou, and was mostly governed by bailiffs appointed by the 
kings of Naples. The Byzantine despots of Misithra, how- 
ever, incessantly attacked the Frank barons, and wrested 
one castle and district from them after another, in spite of 

'■""' The titular Dukes of Athens and Neopatras, of the House of 
Aragon, were: Manfred, Prince of Sicily, 1326-1330; William, his 
brother, 1330-1338 ; Jayme, second brother, regent of Sicily, 1338-1348*1' 
Fadrique, Marquis of Randazzo, son of Don Jayme, 1348-1355; Fad- 
rique III., King of Sicily, 1355-1377 ; Maria, his daughter, married to 
Don Martin, King of Aragon (599). 

''° The Acciajuoli, like the Medici, were originally Florentine mer- 
chants, who by their manufacturing interests and banking business 
rose to the possession of wealth and princely estates. Nicholas Accia- 
juoli, the head of that family, about 1334, was an able statesman and 
keen political intriguer, and both he and his descendants in Greece gave 
early examples of the superior position which in the fourteenth century, 
the purse of the moneyed citizen began to assume over the sword of the 
feudal baron, and the learning of the political churchman. The Dukes 
of Athens of the House of Acciajuoli were: Nerio I., 1386-1394; An- 
tonio, his son, 1394^-1435; Nerio II., 1435-1453; the infant son of the 
former, with his mother as regent, 1453-1455 ; Franco, nephew of 
Nerio 11., last duke, deposed and beheaded by Sultan Mohammed H., 
1455-1456. See for the history of Athens during this period the above 
cited work of Colonel George Fiulay, p. 182-201, which contains, more- 
over, admirable sketches of the social condition of Greece in the 
fifteenth century. 



their desperate valor, and the brilliant victories of John of 
Katavas and his chivalry over the Byzantine mercenaries at 
Prinitza and on Mount Makryplaghi, in Arcadia, in (264 and 
1268. The Catalans made inroads from Attica ; the Vene- 
tians possessed Coron, Modon, Argos, and Monembasia ; the 
Pope held Patras and Nauplia ; thus the Prankish dominion 
in the Morea, formerly so powerful, was in the beginning of 
the fifteenth century reduced to Elis, western Arcadia, and 
the coastland of Achaia. The last Frank sovereign who 
assumed the title of Prince of Achaia was Azan Zachariah 
Centurione, Count of Chalandritza. Having, in 1430, sur- 
rendered that fortress and all his other territorial possessions 
to the Despot Thomas Palseologus, for a life-rent of his 
baronies, the Frank Principality became extinct after an 
existence of two hundred and twenty-five years, and the whole 
peninsula, with the exception of the five maritime fortresses 
held by the Venetians, was once more retinited to the Byzan- 
tine Empire. 

622. IV. The Duchy of Naxos (361), under the third dy- 
nasty (that of the Crispi), enjoyed during the fifteenth century 
a comparative tranquillity, though the coasts of those beautiful 
and highly-cultivated islands were often exposed to the sudden 
landings of Turkish pirates from Asia Minor, and the indus- 
trious islanders suffered still more from their subjection to 
the commercial monopolies of their protectress, the republic 
of Venice. These pernicious restrictions on commerce and 
industry, and the enormous taxes imposed by the indolent 
and luxurious dukes, depressed and ruined the native Greek 
population, which began to decline so rapidly that Alba^iian 
colonies had to be called in from the Inainland to repeople 
the islands of los, Andros, Keos, and Kythnos (Thermia). 
After the fall of Rhodes, in 1522, the terrible Haireddin 
Barbarossa, the Turkish Capudan Pasha, appeared before 
Naxos ; the capital was sacked in the most barbarous man- 
ner, and the whole island overrun by the Turks. The 
unhappy Duke Giovanni V. Crispo became a tributary to 
the Sultan. His son Giacomo IV. was imprisoned in Con- 
stantinople; the Turks took possession of the islands, and 
Selim II. conferred the government of Naxos on his banker, 
the Jew John Michez, who, not daring to visit his exasperated 
Greek subjects, sent the noble Spaniard, Francis Coronello, as 
his deputy, to collect the tributes and overlook the public 
administration of the island. Such was the final fate of the 
duchy of the Archipelago, the last great fief of the Latin 
empire of Romania; it fell in 1566, after having been ruled 
by twenty-one Catholic princes for three hundred and fifty-nine 
years.'" 

V. The Genoese Lordships in the ^gean belonged to 
families of Nobili, who stood nearly in the same relations to 
their metropolis as the Dukes of Naxos to Venice. The Do- 
rias possessed the city of Ainos, on the gulf of that name, op- 
posite to the mouth of the river Maritza (Hebrus), in Thrace, 
and the islands of TJiasos, Samotraki, and Iinbros. The 
Gatelusii resided on Stalimne (Lemnos), Hagio Strati (Nea), 
and Metelino (Lesbos), the fertile and beautiful island, with 
its strongly fortified city, opposite the coast of Asia Minor, 

'" At Naxos the traveller still beholds the ruins of the ducal palace 
transformed into a Capuchin convent, crowning the hill above the city, 
The armorial escutcheons of the ancient Venetian families adorn the 
portals of the houses, whose inmates, descendants of the Giraldi, Gri- 
maldi, Marini, Venieri, Coronelli, or Delendi, figure as petty consuls of 
France, Holland, Denmark, and Sweden, while a fair-haired little boy, 
who a few years ago received his food in the Convent of the Lazarists 
for pulling the church bell, was considered as the last scion of the proud 
dynasty of the Dukes of Naxos. 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. ALBANIA— CONSTANTINOPLE. 



205 



where the castle of ancient Phoksea had a Genoese garrison. 
The Giustiniani, one of the most influential families of Ge- 
noa, held the islands of Chios (Scio), Psara, Nicaria^ and the 
mountainous and easily-defended Samos. After the fall of 
Constantinople, in 1453, and the occupation of the Genoese 
suburbs, Pera and Galatd, by the Turks, those islands became 
the refuge of thousands of Greek fugitives ; but the terrified 
Genoese lords soon surrendered their possessions to the vic- 
torious arms of Mohammed II. — 1455-1462 — and with the 
destruction of Caffa and the flourishing Genoese cities on the 
Crimea, in 1475, the republic lost her last colony and em- 
porium in the Levant. Samos having likewise suff'ered from 
Turkish depredations, was granted by Sultan Selim to Kilidj 
Ali Pasha, who brought new settlers into the island. 

623. VI. The Order of St. John, firmly established 
on Rhodes and the adjacent group of smaller islands in 1310, 
maintained its high renown as the bulwark of Christianity 
against the infidels (362). The city of Rhodes, on the north 
of the island, had two harbors, the Galley Port and the Porto 
cli Mandraccldo, which were protected by strong and beauti- 
ful towers, and closed by enormous iron chains drawn across 
the entrance. The Upper Town — la haute ville — with the huge 
Gothic palace of the grand masters, the cathedral of Saint 
John, and the beautiful street of the knights — la rue des 
Chevaliers — was separated from the Lower Town — la ville 
basse — by a transverse wall with many towers and some gates. 
In this lower quarter lived the Greek subjects, the Jews, all 
the married citizens and retainers of the order, and those 
numerous and beautiful Rhodian courtesans whose rich and ele- 
gant dress in the fifteenth century became the fashion of all 
European ladies. The order was earlier divided into seven 
tongues, those of France, Germany, Auvergne, Aragoji, 
England, Provence, and Italy ; but during the dissensions in 
the order in 1462, the eighth tongue, Castile-Portugal, was 
created. The knights of every tongue had their position on the 
towers, walls, and outworks assigned for the defence of the 
city. Near the Mount Phileremos (the ancient lalysos) was 
the swamp where the young knight Deodat de Gozon, from 
Provence, in 1342, in a dangerous combat, killed the huge 
serpent or crocodile which for a long time had been the terror 
of the inhabitants and flocks of the environs. On the moun- 
tain stood the celebrated Church of Our Lady of Phile- 
remos, to whose shrine pilgrimages were made by Greeks and 
Latins. Other cities in the island were Lindos on the east, 
and Tria?ida, Neokastron, and Kandura, on the west. Sultan 
Mohammed II. sent, in 1480, Misih-Pasha with a hundred 
thousand Turks to besiege the city of Rhodes, but they were 
repelled with tremendous loss by the gallant Grand Master, 
Pierre d'Aubusson, and forced to depart from the island. 

624. VII. The Principality or Kingdom of Albania, 
under George Castriota, 1453-1466. This mountainous re- 
gion embraced Upper Albania, the northern part of the medi- 
seval despotat of Epirus (372), extending from the lake of 
Labeatis or Scodra (35), and the Monte Negro on the north, 
south to the river Aous (now Voioussa), and the high range 
of the Acroceraunian promontory, which separated it from 
Epirus Proper. The precipitous mountains of Albania 
ascending in several ofiFsets toward Mount Pindus in the inte- 
rior, are intersected by the deep and fertile valleys of the 
Apsos, Genussos, and the Black and White Drin. The latter 
river, flowing from the large lake of Achris or Ochrida (the 
ancient Lychnidus), in a northwestern direction, discharges 
itself into the Adriatic Gulf, near Alessio, south of Scodra. 
The country was divided into : I. Zenta, on the north of the 
Drin, with the cities of Scodra (Scutari), Antivari and Dul- 



eigne, on the coast. It was inhabited by the fierce Albanian 
race of the Guegues or Red Skypetars. II. Diijra, in the 
interior, on the Upper Drin, and Aemathia (Mathis), on the 
coast, with the celebrated mountain fortress of Croja, the 
birthplace and paternal inheritance of George Castriota ; Lis- 
sus (Alessio), at the mouth of the Drin, occupied by the Ve- 
netians ; Durazzo (Dyrrhachium), Prfrz^/a, Albanon, Dihra , 
Stellusa, Stanon, and other places, the scenes of the extra- 
ordinary deeds of the Albanian hero. This central region 
was inhabited by the brave and civilized Albanian tribe of the 
Mirdites (Mirdi), the countrymen of George Castriota. They 
were Catholics, and enjoyed their independence under their 
own chiefs or Prinks. III. Musaki, Timoritza, and Des- 
nitza, the southern region of Albania, extending from the 
Lake of Achris, westward to the Adriatic, and south to the 
river Voioussa. Its inhabitants were the warlike and treach- 
erous Toxides, who later became Mohammedans. Berat 
(Beligrad, White City), on the Apsos, "was their principal 
town. Petra Alba, Skrepari, and Moschopolis, became cele- 
brated in the wars with the Turks. Wallachian shepherds 
were settled in the mountains with their flocks. In the four- 
teenth century the power of these Albanian tribes was so far 
increased that, throwing ofl" their allegiance to the distant and 
weakened Byzantine emperors, they began to descend from 
their strongholds, and attempt conquests toward the north and 
east. But they could not retain their acquisitions. Cattaro, 
Antivari, Duleigno, and Lissus, were taken by the Vene- 
tians, and the Albanians soon felt the heavy sword of Amu- 
rath II. It was then, in 1443, that the young Mirdid chief, 
Georgios Castriota, by the Turks called Iskander-Bel (Skan- 
derbeg, or Sir Alexander), fled from the service of Sultan Am- 
urath, and occupying Croja, Dibra, Petrula, Petra Alba, Stel- 
lusa, and Sfetigrod, drove the Turks out of the country. The 
Albanians of all the diiferent tribes flocked to his banner, and 
proclaimed him Prince of Albania. With extraordinary bra- 
very and talent, he, for twenty years, defeated and destroyed 
the immense armies which Mohammed II. marched against 
him, and maintained the liberty of his native country until his 
death, Jan. 17, 1467, in Lissus, where he was buried.^" The 
Turks immediately penetrated into the mountains, and entei'ed 
Joannina triumphantly in 1478, yet they never succeeded in 
establishing their dominion among the warlike and liberty- 
loving tribes of Albania. 

XIX. — The Byzantine Empire in 1450. 

625. Decline and Fall of Constantinople. — Neither 
the talents of Michael VIII. Paleeologus, nor the victories 
of the Catalan adventurers in Asia Minor, under his son 
Andronicus II., in 1304-1307, could stop the advance of the 
Ottoman hordes. The civil wars between Joannis Cantaku- 
zenos and the young emperor Joannis V. — 1341—1346 — the 
internal decay and misery, the defeats of the foreign auxili- 
aries at Nicopolis, in 1396, and at Varna, in 1444, and the 
virulence of the theological contest of the Latin and Greek 
Churches, brought the ancient empire, in 1450, to the brink 
of the precipice. Its still remaining territories at the time 
consisted of : I. The city of Constantinople with its 160,000 
inhabitants, and the environs as far as the ruinous walls of 
Anastasius. Beyond Silivri and Apollonia the country 
swarmed with Turkish Spahis. II. The Chalcidian penin- 

''^ See the history of the great Albanian chief in Sismondi's Italian 
Republics, Vol. V., pages 297-335, and in Life of George Gastriot, Scan- 
derbeg, King of Albania, republished from Knolle'a History of the 
Turks by Doctor Clement C. Moore. New-York, 1850. A modern 
Greek translation of Marinus Barletius' Life of Scanderbeg appeared 
some years ago in Venice. 



206 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. TREBIZOND— TURKEY. 



sula in Macedonia, with the city of Saloniki, Cassatidria, 
and the promontory of AfJios, inhabited by monks. III. 
Peloponnesus, divided into the two despotats of Misithra 
(Sparta) and Fatras, at the tune belonging to the two hostile 
brothers, Demetrius and Thomas Palaeologi. The virtues of 
the last emperor, Constantine XI., could no longer uphold the 
perishing state. Constantinople sank beneath the scimitar of 
Mohammed II., on May 29, 1453, and the peninsula was 
incorporated into the Turkish Empire in 1460. 

XX. — The Grand Comnenian Empire of Teebizond. 

626. Decline and Fall. — This small and feeble state, on 
the shores of the Euxine Sea (374), had by the prudent con- 
duct of its Grand Comnenian princes, and the continual feuds 
between the Mongols and Turks in the interior of Asia Minor, 
withstood all the storms of the times. It still extended in 
the beginning of the fifteenth century from the mouth of Kizil- 
Irmak (the Halys of the ancients) eastward, along the ridge 
of Mount Paryades, which secured it from the incursions of 
the White Horde — Ak-Koinlu — of Turkomans on the Eu- 
phrates, to Bathys in Laziea, on the frontiers of Georgia. On 
the west, the empire was protected by its alliance with the 
Genoese, who held possession of the strong and important 
maritime cities of Amastra and Amisos, and with the Emirs 
of Kastemuni (the ancient Paphlagonia) ; and on the east by 
the fine, warlike race of the Lazi, who served in the army of 
the Comnenian emperors. The Emperor Alexius IV. and his 
son Kalojoannis had bravely beaten oiF the first invasions of 
the Turkoman Sheiks and Ottoman Sultans, but the idle 
pomp, the bigotry and ceremonious pedantry of the Byzantine 
court, found their way to Trebizond, which appeared as the 
very caricature of its prototype — the same despotism and re- 
ligious intolerance ; the Lazian mountaineers were treated 
like serfs by the arrogant Trebizontine nobles ; the Greek 
population were oppressed by tributes and taxes, and by the 
encroachments of the Genoese Shylocks, who held all wealth 
and commerce in their hands. The time had arrived when 
the moral degradation of the Comnenian princes, the avarice 
and selfishness of the archons and clergy, became so offensive 
to the mass of the people, that they every where considered 
the conquest of their country by the Turks as an event 
preferable to the continuance of their actual miseries. After 
the overthrow of Constantinople, David Comnenus still for 
eight years, under continual anxiety, bought his peace with 
Sultan Mohammed II.; but, in 1461, the conqueror suddenly 
appeared in Asia Minor, at the head of a most formidable 
fleet and army. Despair took possession of the Greek prince ; 
Trebizond surrendered; the emperor with his family was 
transported to Mavron-Oros, near Serres, where he soon fell 
a sacrifice to the suspicious jealousy of the perfidious Sultan. 
The beautiful city of Trebizond, its fortifications, palaces, 
churches, and other monuments of the taste and skill of the 
Byzantine artists, went to ruin; its fertile plains were aban- 
doned, and exhibit, at the present day, the same squalid 
picture of social and intellectual degradation as every other 
part of the Ottoman dominion. 

XXI. — The Ottoman Empire. 

627. Historical Remarks. — The obscure origin and 
rapid progress of the Turkish empire is one of the most 
astonishing phenomena in history.''^ It owed its i-apid 

^" Mahan, iu Westei-n Khocasau, south of Khowaresm (212), was 
the home of the Oghusian Tartars. Suleyman-Shah-Ben-Kaial, with his 
tribe of 50,000 souls, fleeing at the approach of Dshingis-Khan, in 1224, 



growth to leaders of high-toned chari''-tcr and inventive 
genius, who at the very outset gave it institutions and laws 
adapted to the religious fanaticism and warlike spirit of the 
nation ; nay, of such vast superiority to those of the adja- 
cent states, both in Asia Minor and in Europe, as to render 
the Osmanli Turks the superiors of those nations both in 
the field and the cabinet. Thus, then, it can be understood 
how a band of some few hundred Tartar horsemen within 
little more than one century — from 1327 to 1453^organ- 
ized the best drilled and bravest regular infantry — the Jan- 
issaries — the most impetuous and efiicient cavalry ^the Si- 
paliis and Silihdars — and an artillery more formidable than 
any in civilized Europe at that time.^" Every branch of 
the administration, the regulation of the tributes, the division 
of the conquered lands into hereditary fiefs — sz«mc^s— with 
military tenure — tima.r — the institution of the pashas (com- 
manders), of the tchauchs (messengers), and even of the imauvis., 
dervishes, and numerous military and civil officials, answered 
wonderfully to the development of an active and enthusiastic 
nation, continually swelling by new tribes from the east. 

sought refuge at Khelat (338), in the Armenian mountains, and on the 
solitary banks of the Lake of Wan. When the Mongol storm had passed 
over, in 1231, the older sons of Suleyman led the Oghusian tribes back 
to Khorasan ; but the youngest son, Ertoghrul (the Straight), with only 
400 families, took service with the Seldjuk Sultan of Rum, in Asia 
Minor. He fought victoriously the battles of his liege lord, and re- 
ceived in reward, as a timar or fief, the fertile plains between the Sau- 
garius and Mount Olympus in Bithynia, on the frontiers of the Greek 
Empire. There, at Eski-Schehr, the ancient Dorylajum (327), Othman 
(Osman, that is, Bonebreaher), the son of Ertoghrul, by the conquest of 
Melangeia (Karadja-Hiss'r) — 1288 — Fa?--///ssV, many other Greek for- 
tresses, and the rich and delightful Brusa (264, IV.), laid, iu 1326, the 
foundation of the Ottoman Empire. 

GENEALOGY OF THE FIRST SULTANS. 

Suletman-Shah, 
+ 1231. ' 



SUSKUKTEKIN and GUNTOGIIDI 

retura with the Horde to Khorasan, 
in 123L 


Ektogiikul. 


Osman I., 1 132T. 


Gundus-Alp. 


Orkhan, tl3C0. Ala-ed-Din, 
1 Vizir, 1 1331. 




Suleyman- Pasha, Mpkad (Amurath) L, 
tl3o9. tl3S9. 

Bayazid I. Ilderim, 1 1403. 




Mohammed I., 1 1421. 




MuEAD (Amurath) II., t 1451. 




MouAMMED 11., EL Fatisch, (the Conqueror), 

t 1481. 





Mustafa, 
+ 1474. 



Bayazid IL, 
tl512. 



Dschem (Zizim), 

poisoned in Italy. 

t 1495. 



"* The force of the Ortas or regiments into which the Janissaries 
were divided, was composed of Christian youths, who, as adopted chil- 
dren of the Sultan, were trained and drilled iu military schools for the 
service of the prophet. Their commander-in-chief was the Chor-badgi 
(soupmaker) ; the colonel was called Ashdshi-badgi (head-cook); the 
symbol of their union, the soup-kettle, as indicative of plentiful pro- 
•visions. In the beginning these young Christians were mostly prisoners 
of war or orphans who would have been left to perish in the general 
desolation of the country, had Sultan Orkhan not converted them into 
a powerful instrument for the creation of the Ottoman Empire. Soon, 
however, a fixed tribute of children was imposed on every Christian 
town and village that fell Into the power of the Osmanlis. Without 
relatives or a home, entirely dependent on his energies and talents, the 
young Janissary had his career before him, and could attain the highest 
dignities of the state. Soon Christians from eveiy country flocked to 
the crescent-banner of the prophet. As renegades they frequently com- 
manded the armies and became the early creators of the Turkish navy. 
The Greek historian, Chalkokondylas, describes the admirable discip- 
line of the Janissaries, the precision and velocity of their movements, 
the perfect order of their camp, the excellent regulations for the com- 
missariat, and the constant supply of provisions and regular monthly 
pay which distinguished the Turkish armies from those of Western 
Europe at that time. 



EIGHTH PEKIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. OTTOMAN EMPIRE. 



207 



Orkhan, the son of Osman, was the great legislator of the 
Turks ; by his efficient institutions the more energetic portions 
of the (.Ireek race became absorbed into that of the Tartar 
nomades, and the ablest Christians found, in the camp of the 
Sultans, an open career for their talents as warriors and as 
statesmen. Thus the Ottomans, on their first establishment 
in Europe, in 1356, subdued the warlike Sclavonian tribes on 
the Danube, swept away all the Latin principalities in Greece, 
the relies of the crusades, and on the ruins of the millennial 
Byzantine empire founded that Sublime Porte, whose fron- 
tiers toward the middle of the sixteenth century extended 
from the Adriatic Gulf and the Carpathian Mountains, across 
the Black Sea and Mount Caucasus, to the Tigris, the Persian 
Gulf, Egypt, and lost itself in the distant deserts of Africa. 

628. Extent, Provinces, and Historical Cities. — I. In 
Asia. — A. Anadoli, in the western parts of Asia Minor, com- 
prising the following provinces : I. Osman (the ancient 
Bithynia and Phrygia Epictetus), was the home of the Otto- 
man Turks.^'^ The earliest settlement of the Oghusiau-Tartars 
was, as we have said, in the plain of Eski-Schehr (Doryl?eum), 
and this territory, sacred to the Ottomans by so many memorials 
of their forefathers, is still called Sultan-Oeni — the Front of 
the Sultan. Thence the Tartar horsemen, under the purple 
crescent banner, began, in 1299, their conquests, which, after 
defeating the Byzantine Greeks in many battles, they ex- 
tended westward to the Propontis and the Bosphorus, and 
eastward across the river Ssakarija (Sangarius) to the shores 
of the Black Sea near EreJdi (Herakleia). This conquered 
territory became divided into: 1, KJiodavend Kiar (Victor 
and Lord), on the Gulf of Mudania, with the cities of 
Brusa and Niccea ; and, 2, Kodja-Ili (Mesothinia), with 
Nicomedia and Scutari, opposite to Constantinople. Eski- 
schehr (Old-town), on the banks of the Picrsak, the ancient 
Thymbres (327), was the early capital of Osman, from 1299 
to 1326, and every mosque, sepulchral tyrbe, or castle, in the 
environs, is dear to the Turks as the cradle of the nation. 
Such interesting places were Bosoni, Iiioni, and Akbuk 
(White Moustache); Karadsha-Hiss''r (Melangeia), and Biled- 
shik (Belokome), west of Dorylteum, the first conquest of the 
Ottomans from the Greeks in 1299. Itburni (Dog's Snout), 
a village near Doryljeum, the residence of the venerable Ede- 
bali, father-in-law of Osman, where the young hero, after 
faithfully wooing his beloved Malahatun for many years, at 
last married the beautiful ancestress of the Turkish Sultans. 
Brusa, their second capital, at the foot of the snow-topped 
Mount Olympus, on the banks of the river Nilnfar, is not 
less celebrated by its gorgeous monuments of Turkish archi- 

"^ Ten Seldjukid princes, who called themselves the Kings of the 
Nations — Muluki Tawaif — had escaped the sword of the Mongols, which 
about the years 1273-1295 dismembered and destroyed the celebrated 
Sultanat of Ikonium (Rum), of Kilidj Arslan (327). These chiefs di- 
vided among themselves the western provinces to which tliej'-, sin- 
gularly enough, gave their own names, still preserved in the Liioas 
or Sandjacs oi the Porte. Emir ^ara.sj settled inMysia; Ssaru-Chan 
and Aidin, in Ionia, Caria, and Lydia ; ilenteache, in Caria ; Tehlcieh, 
in Lyoia; Hamid, in Pisidia, and Phrygia; Kara-man, in the larger dis- 
tricts of Isauria, Lycadnia, and Cappadocia, where, driving out the 
Mongols, he occupied Iconium (Konijah), and made it his capital. Alis- 
chir was the only Seldjukid Emir who did not give his name to bis 
territory, but called it Kermian, after the capital. Ghasi-Tchelebi took 
Eastemuni, in Paphlagonia, and Eastern Bithynia, and Osman had 
already obtained the border lands at the base of Mount Olympus. "When 
we find these Turkish chiefs give their names to the states of which 
they were the founders, why should we reject as fable in the manner of 
some modern antiquarians the ancient Hdlenic traditions, which make 
the Hellenes (Greeks) take their name from Hellen, the lones from Ion, 
and many other tribes from the names of their early leaders, who founded 
the primitive states of Ilellas. 



tecture, than by the industry of its inhabitants, the salubrity 
of its climate, and the therapeutic power of its hot springs. 
Oloii-Djami (the great mosque), the mosque of Sultan Ork- 
han, and that of Sultan Bayazid Ildcrim, are unsurpassed 
masterpieces of Saraceno-Turkish taste and magnificence ; 
schools and hospitals surrounded by shady gardens are 
attached to every mosque. Isnik (the celebrated Nicaea) was 
conquered in 1329 by Sultan Orkhan-Osmanoglou (son of 
Osman. Ghemlik, on the bay of Mudania, the Kibotos of the 
Crusaders (327). Isnilcviid (Nicomedia) fell in 1338, after 
the gi'eat defeat of the Emperor Andronicus the Younger at 
Philokrene. Yeni-Schehr (New Town, Neapolis), Yarkissar, 
Ainegol (Mirror-Sea), and Gehise (Lubissa), are all places of 
interesting events in early Turkish history. 

629. II. Karasi extended along the Hellespont south to 
the river Lycus, thus embracing the ancient Mysia, with the 
cities Bergama (Pergamos), Lampsaki, Abydos, Bigha, Bur- 
nabadshi (Troy), and Aidindschik (Cyzicus), on the peninsula 
of Proconnesus, where the Condottiere Eoger de Flor, with his 
mercenary army of Catalans and Aragonese, vanquished the 
Turks in brilliant battles in 1307-9, and drove them back 
across Mount Taurus. The city was, however, surprised and 
taken by the Turks under Suleyman, the son of Sultan Ork- 
han, in 1356, and there they assembled their Jirst Jleet, with 
which they landed in Thrace and occupied Kallipolis in the 
same year. The petty princes of Karasi were allies of the 
Osmanlies, and began early their piratical expeditions on the 
^gean with the devastation of Chios in 1307. 

III. Ssarukhan (the ancient .jSJolis and Northern Lydia), 
south of Karasi, with the cities of Magnesia, Akhissar (Thya- 
tira), and Adala. 

IV. Aidin (the ancient Ionia and Western Lydia), with 
Smyrna, Tclicsme (Kissos), on the coast opposite to Chios ; 
Ajasuk (Ephesus), Ala-ScJtehr (Philadelphia), reconquered by 
the Catalans in 1306, but worse treated by the ferocious and 
debauched mercenaries than by the Mohammedans themselves, 
and soon lost again. 

V. Mentesche (the ancient Doris in Caria), with Miiglah 
(Hylarima), Milet, E&kihissar (Alabanda), and Chorsun 
(Cibyra). The strongly-fortified peninsula of Halicarnassus, 
with the castles of Petronion and Budrun (362), belonged 
to the Knights of Bhodes, who with their splendid and invin- 
cible galley fleets protected the islands. 

VI. Tekieh or Tekke (ancient Lycia and Pamphylia), on 
the southern coast, with Antalia (Satalia), Sidi&chehr (Side), 
Makri, Kastellorizzo, Myra, and Fineka. 

VII. Kermian (ancient Phrygia Pacatiana), with Ladik 
(Laodicea) and Tripolis, on the Mendere (Masander), Kutahija, 
(Coty£eum) in the north, the capital of a Seldjukian Emir, 
Eski-Karahissar (Old Black Tower, or Synnada), and San- 
dukli — all places celebrated in the history of the Crusades. 
At Ak&chai, in the south. Sultan Bayazid Ilderim, in 1392, 
took the faithless Karamanian Prince, Alah-ed-Din, prisoner, 
together with his sons, and after their execution incorporated 
all the southeastern part of Asia Minor with the Ottoman 
Empire. 

VIII. Hamid (Pisidia and Phrygia Kekaumena), the land 
of lakes, with I&parta,, and Ak-Schehr, where the imprisoned 
Bayazid Thunderbolt died in his kaphes or grated litter, on 
the 8th of March, 1403 ; he was buried in Kutahija. 

630. IX. Karaman, the largest Emirate, which for nearly 
a century remained independent of the Turkish Sultans — 
1299-1390 — embraced the Bocky Cilicia, Isauria, and Lyca- 
onia, with the cities Konijah (Iconium, Rum), Karaman, 
Karabunar, and the extensive salt lake Tuz-Tcholli. In the 



208 



EIGHTH PEKIOD.— 1300-1453. OTTOMAN EMPIEE. 



northern part of Karaman lay the battle-field of Angora^ 
on the Sangarius, where, on the 19th of July, 1402, the supe- 
rior tactics of the Mongol, Timur Khan (Tamerlane), main- 
tained the bloody day against Sultan Bayazid Ilderim. After 
the most frightful struggle between nearly half a million of savage 
warriors, the Ottoman Janissaries, abandoned by their Spahis 
(cavalry), were surrounded by myriads of Tartar horsemen, 
and cut down to a man. The Sultan, with a host of Turkish 
officers and other dignitaries, fell into the hands of the 
Mongol Emperor, who soon retired into Upper Asia, and thus 
saved the Ottoman Empire. The last Karamanian prince, 
Kasim Bei, died in 1483. 

X. Kastemuni (the ancient Paphlagonia), on the shores of 
the Black Sea, between the Sangarius and the Kizil-Irmak 
(Halys), remained long hostile to the Turks, and the Emirs of 
Szinup (Sinope) and Kastemuni (Castamone) were not sub- 
dued until after the conquest of Constantinople, when Mo- 
hammed II. moved all his forces against Trebizond, in 1461. 
It was the last of the Seldjukian principalities in Asia Minor, 
which, by its alliance with Christian states, had maintained its 
independence of the Ottoman Empire. 

631. B. The Sultanate of Ssiwas, extending from the 
frontiers of Trebizond along the eastern banks of the Kizil- 
Irmak, southward to Mount Taurus or Bolghar-Dagh (266), 
and eastward to Malatia and the valley of the Euphrates. 
Celebrated commercial citieswere^wiasza on the Jeschil-Irmak 
(Iris), Tokat (Comana Pontica), Kaisarieh (Mazaca, Caesarea) 
at the base of the snow-capped Erdisch-Dagh (Mount 
Arg£eus), and Ssiwas (Sebaste) on the Upper Halys. The 
valley of the Euphrates, the western slope of the Armenian 
mountains, and northern Al Dschesira (Mesopotamia), were 
inhabited by two powerful Turkoman tribes from the Caspian. 
The horde of the White Sheep — Ak-Koinlii — occupied the 
table-lands between Ssiwas and Erzerum, and the horde 
of the Black Sheep — Kara-Koinlil — Ssamsat (Samosata), 
Amida, and the plain country toward Harran and Nisbin 
(Nisibis), and eastward the highlands of Khelat to the shores 
of the lake Wan in Persarmenia. Their attachment to a 
wandering life led several of their hordes into the plains of 
Asia Minor, where, by the support they rendered the Seld- 
jukian Emirs and the Emperors of Trebizond, they soon got 
into war with the Ottoman Turks.^'^ Isoun Hassan, the 
celebrated Chan of the White Horde, formed a powerful em- 
pire in Armenia and Mesopotamia by his victory over the 
Black Sheep. Hassan opposed a barrier to the Ottomans in 
the East, ajid though he was defeated by Mohammed II. in 
person, near Terdshan, in 1473, the Sultan did not dare to 
cross the Euphrates. The great Turkoman chief died in 

^"' The Turkomans still inhabit the large central plains of Asia Blinor, 
■where they graze their numerous herds of horses on the banks of the 
Halys and the Lake of Tatta in Karamania. They are a handsome people ; 
their women spin wool and make excellent carpets ; the men tend their 
flocks and smoke their tchibuks. Constantly on horseback, with the 
lance on their shoulder, a sabre by their side, and a brace of long pis- 
tols in their girdle, they make vigorous horsemen and hardy warriors. 
They made themselves so feared by the Ottomans that Sultan Moham- 
med I. agreed to purchase the neutrality of Chan Kara Youlouk (Black 
Leech) of the White Horde, by the payment of an annual tribute of 
one thousand saddles and other cavalry equipments. When, in 1459, 
the White Horde entered into alliance with the Emperor David Com- 
nenus of Trebizend, and a Turkoman envoy appeared in Constan- 
tinople to demand of Mohammed 11. the annual tribute left unpaid for 
sixty years, the proud Sultan heard the Turkoman patiently to the end, 
and replied calmly: "Depart in peace; I will presently come to Ar- 
menia, and discharge all my debts." We may hope that the myriads 
of fierce Turkomans now in arms on the frontiers of Russian Armenia 
will give a good account of themselves against Prince Woronsow and 
his Cossacks. 



1478; the disputes among his nephews weakened ■ the state 
and on its ruins rose the new Persian Empire, which was 
founded in 1508 by that astonishing fanatic, Ismael Sophi, 
who under the mask of religious enthusiasm and divine in- 
spiration raised himself from a hut to the throne of a great 
monarchy. Cities in Turkomania were Erzerum, on the 
Upper Euphrates, the great manufacturing town of Armenia, 
and later one of the bulwarks of the Ottoman Empire ; Er- 
zendgin (Arzinga), on the same river, where, in 1462, Mo- 
hammed II. and Hassan Bei, the two greatest men of their 
time, met to conclude the treaty which decided the fate of the 
Comnenian Empire; Beiburt, with Malatia, Marasch, and 
Aintab, all flourishing cities at the present day. Thus the 
Euphrates and the Cilician defiles formed the utmost eastern 
frontiers of the Turkish Empire at the close of the Middle 
Ages ; during the sixteenth century they carried their vic- 
torious crescent-banner beyond the Tigris, to the Persian Gulf 
and the cataracts of the Nile in Egypt. 

632. II. Ottoman Possessions in Europe. — C. Ejalet 
Kum-Ili (Romania), extending from the Bosphorus along 
Djebal Balkan (Mount Hsemus), westward across to the 
Adriatic Sea, and embracing the Byzantine provinces of 
Thrace, Macedonia, Epirus, and Thessaly. It was divided 
into fifteen Sandjacs (banner provinces), and governed by 
Pashas of two or three tugldas (horsetails) ; yet the limits of 
their jurisdiction were never accurately defined^ The first 
Turks who crossed the Hellespont were some bands of light- 
horse — Turcopoules — who as mercenaries followed the stand- 
ards of the Grand Company of Catalans and Aragonians, 
and contributed by their bravery to the victory at Kypsella:, 
where 5000 Catalans defeated 50,000 Greeks in 1308. Yet 
the Turcopoules never returned into Asia ; they perished, and 
all the later attempts of the Ottomans to obtain a firm footing 
on the Thracian shores of the Hellespont were frustrated by 
casual accidents rather than by the vigilance of the Greeks, 
until the year 1356, when the daring Suleyman, brother of 
Sultan Orkhan, on a dark night, crossed the straits with 
thirty-nine of his bravest companions — delhides^on. two 
rafts, and by surprise took possession of the castle of Dshem- 
enlik (Tzympe), opposite to Lampsakos. Thousands of their 
countrymen soon followed, and by the conquest of the impor- 
tant Kallipolis (Gallipoli), they defeated all the weak attempts 
of the dastardly Byzantines to drive them back into Asia. 
At Bulair, north of Kallipolis, stands the tyrbe. or sepulchral 
monument of Suleyman, who there perished by a plunge of his 
horse in 1358. Castle Komir, Panion, Rhodostos (359), 
Ypsella (Kypsellae), on the Maritza; Cliariopolis, and Tchorli 
(Tzurulou), in the interior of Thrace, are places of historical 
interest in the Catalan and Turkish wars. Dimotika (Didy- 
moteichos), on the Lower Maritza, became, in 1360, the resi- 
dence of Sultan Murad I., who next entered Edrtme (Adri- 
anopolis) in triumph, and made that splendid and populous city 
the second capital of the rapidly-increasing Ottoman Empire. 
Filibe (Philippopolis), on the Upper Maritza, fell, and after 
the nocturnal surprise and defeat of King Louis I. of Hungary 
in the defiles of Mount Hajmus, in 1364, all Thrace and Mace- 
donia, with the exception of Constantinople and the maritime 
cities, became an easy and permanent conquest of the Turks. 



633. IsTAMBUL — Konstantinupolis - 
stormed, sacked, and partly desolated 



— (Constantinople),^" 
by Mohammed the 



'" The Turkish name is a corruption of the modern Greek: 'stirn- 
bolln {(Is Trjv -woKw), similar to that of Stanko, 'stan Ko (cis tov Kw in 
the Dorian dialect), for the island of Cos, and Stalimne for Lemnos, and 
others. Still more absurd is the modern Greek perversion of Mount 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. OTTOMAN AiND MONGOL EMPIRES. 



209 



Conqueror on the 29th of May, 1453, saw its glories perish 
one by one. The religion and nationality of the Greek race 
were saved and protected by a politic and wise Sultan, but 
hundreds of thousands of Asiatic families were transported to 
the smiling shores of the Bosphorus. and the Mohammedan 
mosQ[ues and sarais soon raised their soaring cupolas and mina- 
rets over the Christian churches and imperial palaces of the 
vanquished people. Istambul, the permanent residence and 
third capital of the Sultans, by its magnificent position, and 
gorgeous monuments of Osmanlic piety, pomp, and art, soon 
outshone all the cities of the Orient, and remains to this day, 
with its numerous suburbs in Europe and Asia, its 350 
mosques, 900 other public buildings, and 900,000 inhabitants, 
the most wonderful and most picturesque city in the world. ^'* 
The neighboring maritime towns on the Kara-Dengliiz (Black 
Sea), Kila (Chelae), Miclia (Salmydessos), Inada (Thynias), 
Alcteboli (Agathopolis), Sizeboli (ApoUonia), Burgas (Debel- 
tos), Aliiali (Anchialos), and Missivri (Mesembria), at the 
base of Mount Hoemus, were all easily reduced. Mohammed 
II. drove the Genoese from Galata ; they lost all their for- 
tresses on the Istambul Boghazi (Bosphorus) and Aenos on 
the Mg&axi, and within twenty years the blood-red banner of 
the prophet waved triumphantly from the Danube and the 
Crimea, to the southernmost promontories of the Peloponnesus. 

634. D. EiALET DsHESAiE. (District of the Islands and the 
Coast) embraced in this early period the Sandjacs of Livadia 
(the duchy of Athens and Bceotia), and of the island of Egri- 
bos (Negroponte or Eubcea), conquered from the Venetians 
in 1470, with Gallipoli, in the Thracian peninsula. Stines 
(Athenai, Athens), after the fall' of its unworthy duke, Franco 
Acciajuoli, in 1 456, still continued to be an archiepiscopal 
gee — a populous and a beautiful city, whose monuments ex- 
cited the admiration of Sultan Mohammed II., on his visit in 
1462. It was reconquered by the Venetian admiral, Victor 
Cappello, in 1466, and most barbarously plundered and deso- 
lated by Christian warriors ! But the perfidious Venetians 
soon retired, and Athens remained henceforth in inglorious 
tranquillity, as a fief of the Harem, under the mild government 
of the Kisldr Agd, the head eunuch of the imperial seraglio. 

635. E. EiALET MoRAH (the Morea), after the expulsion 
of the Despots in 1461, became divided into the two Sand- 
jacs of Tripolitza (Tegea), and Mistra (Sparta), and was 
colonized with numerous Albanian settlers, who likewise oc- 
cupied the island of Poros, on the coast of Troezen, and 
those of Hydra and Spetza, in the Argolic gulf. 

F. EiALET Bulgar-Ili, the former kingdom of Bulgaria 
(968), embraced the Sandjacs of Silistria, Nicopolis, Widdin, 
and Sofia. 

G. EiALET BosNA, with Servia, the westei'nmost province 
of the empire, bordered already on the Venetian possessions 
in Dalmatia and Croatia, and the Turkish Spahis spurred 

Hymettus, near Athens, which the ignorant Athenians heard pro- 
nounced Monte Matto by the Venetians, and translated into their 
modern jargon Trelo-Vuni, that is, the Fools' Mountain. 

^'^ Most of the Byzantine monuments have disappeared or else become 
incorporated in Turkish structures, which is the case with many of the 
churches and the Seven Towers. The most interesting relics from the 
middle ages still standing are the Santa Sophia, the Obelisk and Serpent 
on the Atmeidan, the column of Constantine, that of Theodosius in the 
gardens of the Seraglio, the subterranean cisterns, the aqueduct of Va- 
lens, the Genoese tower and fortifications in Galata, and the splendid 
ruins of the triple Byzantine walls {xspaaia rdxv) between the Golden 
Horn and the Propontis, with the ruinous palaces of Blachernce and 
Hebdomon (Tekiour Sei-ai), between which is seen that hidden pos- 
tern — the fatal Kerkoporta (Circusgate) — by which the Turkish cavalry, 
during the assault, xinperceived by the defenders, penetrated into the 

citv. 

27 



boldly through the gorges of the Julian Alps, and filled the 
beautiful plains of Friuli and Treviso with bloodshed and 
devastation. The fate of Servia had been decided on the 
battlefield of Kossowa in 1389 (566). The last king, Stephen 
Thomasewich, of Bosnia, was captured and beheaded in 1463, 
and the whole country occupied by the Turks. Yet the gallant 
Matthias Corvinus drove them once more beyond the moun- 
tains at the point of the sabre, and warlike Hungary maintained 
her conquest, until the battle of Mohacz, in 1525, brought the 
irresistible Janissaries before the walls of Buda and Vienna 
herself. 

Bos7iia having been colonized by a thickly settled Mo- 
hammedan population, soon became the northern bulwark of 
the* Ottoman Empire. Bosna-Serai, Trawnick, Vrandouk, 
Maglay.1 Banialuka, and Zioornick, were fortified with im- 
pregnable fortresses ; numerous timars or fiefs were distributed 
among the Spahis, and 78,000 Bosnian Janissaries secured 
the easily defended frontier lines on the Save and the Unna. 

H. Arnaut-Ili, embracing the principality of Croja and 
Epii-us Proper, both so bravely defended by Castriota (624), 
was invaded by the Ottomans after the death of that hero, in 
1467. Scodra made a brilliant defence under the Venetian 
noble Antonio Loredano, in 1475, but Croja, Lissos, and 
Durazzo, iell in 1478, after the most heroical resistance, and 
with the conquest of Joanniiia and Arta terminated the 
bloody war, though the Sultans never succeeded entirely in 
subduing the wild and haughty race of the Albanians until 
they received them into pay as mercenary soldiers, — the dread 
alike of friend or foe. 

I. The Transdanubian Voivodats of Wallachia and 
Moldavia belonged to the Ottoman Porte as tributary states, 
governed by their own native princes, and it was only after the 
conquest of Hungary and Transylvania in the sixteenth cen- 
tui-y that the Sultans were enabled to exert their pernicious 
influence over those beautiful and fertile provinces, the sover- 
eignty of which is now the subject of contention between 
Russia and the Porte, supported by the Western Powers. 

Such was the immense extent of the empire in a. d. 1481, 
on the death of the terrible Mohammed II., the Conqueror, 
who had even lived to enjoy the successful invasion of Italy 
by the capture of Otranto, and the frightful massacre of its 
inhabitants, August Uth, 1480. But under his successors 
the thunders of war again rolled back over the East, and gave 
terrified Europe some years of doubtful tranquillity to prepare 
for the still more formidable invasions of Sultan Suleyman II.. 
the Magnificent. 

XXII. — The Mongol Empire of Tamerlane. 

636. Extent of the Mongol Conquests. — The nomadic 
nation of the Mongols (Kalmuks), from the table-lands of 
central Asia, have thrice appeared as conquerors on the stage 
of the world during the middle ages ; in the fifth century as 
Huns, under Balamir and Attila — 375-452 ; in the thirteenth 
united with the numerous Tartar tribes of the Caspian, under 
Dshingis Khan and his sons, who, between 1202 and 1250, 
formed the largest empire the world had seen ; and, lastly, in 
the fifteenth century, under the still more terrible Timurlenk 
(Tamerlane), in 1363-1405, carrying death and desolation 
over the face of the earth, from the Ganges to the Mediter- 
ranean. Though none of those mighty empires, during the 
lifetime of their founders received a sufficient organization to 
hold together after his death, they nevertheless exercised the 
greatest influence on the future destiny of the conquered 
races, and changed the entire geographical divisions of Asia 
and of Eastern Europe. Only the Huns disappeared imme- 
diatelv after the death of Attila, leaving no traces behind 



210 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. MONGOL EMPIRE. 



them, save the consolidation and more developed military spirit 
of the numerous Germanic and Sclavonian tribes who had 
broken their chains and divided the immense territories of 
their vanquished oppressors (109). The empire of Dshingis 
Khan embraced, at the close of the thirteenth century, five al- 
most independent states. I. China {Kathay or Sina), under 
the dynasty of the Yuens, from 1294 to 1368. comprehend- 
ing China Proper, Corea, Thibet, Tunkin, Cochin- China, 
Northern India, westward to the Ganges, and Mongolia 
(Mongolistan) north to Mount Altai and the lake of Baikal. 
Peking was the capital, and the Yilens, as descendants of 
Chan Kublai, considered themselves Great-Chans, enjoying 
the nominal sovereignty over the other Mongol states. 

637. II. TsHAGATAi, comprising the ancient Mawalal- 
Nahr (212, XXII.), Khowaresm, Turkestan, Kashgar, ex- 
tending from the sea of Aral on the west, to the dreary desert 
of Kobi, beyond Mount Muztag, and on the east and south, 
across Mount Himalaya to DelJd, on the Ganges. The capital 
was Samarkand ; twenty-two chans held the sway from Tsha- 
gatai-Chan, the son of Dshingis, in 1241, to Timurlenk, in 1363, 
who was born May 7, 1336, in the castle Schehr-SebZjiiear the 
city of Kesch, south of Samarkand, in the present Bukhara. 
III. Persia, or Chanat of Iran, reaching from the Indus, 
through Beludshistan, Sedsldstan, Kerman, Persia Proper, 
and the countries west of the Euphrates and Mount Taurus, 
to the shores of the Mediterranean. This splendid empire 
was founded by the savage Hulagii, in 1258, on the ruins of 
the Abbasid Caliphate of Bagdad (274), the dynasties of the 
Assassins (364), the Athabeks (329), on the Euphrates, the 
Eyubids, in Syria, and the Seldjoukids (327), in Asia Minor. 
The Perso-Mongol princes resided in Bagdad, on the Tigris ; 
they called themselves //- Chans, that is vassals of the Cha- 
Chan, or Great Chan of Kathay. Hulagii was a chieftain 
of inhuman cruelty, but his descendants soon adopted the 
milder manners of the Persians ; they abandoned their Dalai 
Lama for the Prophet and the Coran ; they revelled in all 
the enjoyments of the paradise of Schiraz (277), and leaving 
the government in the hands of ambitious Emirs, the most 
frightful disorders, civil wars, fratricides, and awful crimes, 
opened the path for Tamerlane, who, bursting upon the dis- 
tracted country in 1363, filled it with devastation and blood- 
shed. On the retreat of the Mongols, in 1410, the Turko- 
mans of the Black Sheep occupied the eastern provinces on 
the Euphrates and Tigris, until they, in their turn, yielded 
to their brethren of the White Sheep Banner, and a modern 
Persian empire arose, as we have seen, under the hypocrite 
Sophi, in 1508. 

638. IV. The Chanat of Kaptschak (385), north of the 
Caspian, between the Yaik and the Volga, was the scene of 
similar disorders and cruelties against the wretched Russian 
and other Sclavonian Nations, or among the princes of the 
Golden Horde themselves. During the civil war between 
Chan Urius and Mamai, in which the former took possession 
of the Golden Tent of Saral, the news spread through Mount 
Caucasus of the rapid approach of Tamerlane and his myriads 
of Mongol cavalry. A sudden panic took possession of the 
guilty chiefs ; they harnessed their Kibitkas, mounted their 
Tartar steeds, and hurried into the steppes beyond the Volga 
and the Uralsk. Terror came upon them in the night time ; 
already they saw the Mongols, in imagination, and began, like 
the infidels in scripture, to slay one another. Hence family 
feuds arose, which demanded revenge of blood. Tuktamisch, 
a Kaptschak prince— ^^^7e/i— fled to Tamerlane, and at tlie 
head of a Mongol division defeated his uncle Urus and his 
sons in 1377; but being himself afterwards vanquished by 



Tamerlane, on his march to Kaptschak, in 1395, he fled to 
Siberia, where he perished. The Golden Horde, attacked by 
the Russians, broke up ; Hadji-Geray occupied the Crimea, 
and became the founder of the Chanat of Tartars in that 
peninsula, which, after continued wars with the Genoese, became 
tributary to the Ottoman Sultans in 1525. Other chiefs 
raised their banner in Kasan and Astrachan, but they were, 
in 1552, subdued by the czars, and their territories incorpo- 
rated with the Russian Empire. 

V. The Chanat of Ssibir (Turan), on the east of Mount 
Oural extended from the northern region Vgria (253, 453) 
along the river Ob to the sources of the Irtisch on Mount 
Altai. The capital of this vast but little known empire, in 
cold and dreary Siberia, was Ssibir (Iskir), near the present 
Tobolsk, on the Irtisch. It survived the downfall of the 
Golden Horde on the Volga, until it was invaded by the Cos- 
sacks, and bowed to the sceptre of Czar Iwan Wassiljewitch, 
in 1584. 

639. Tamerlane combined the military talent of Attila 
with the affability and prudence of Dshingis Chan, and the 
ferocious cruelty of both. A zealous Mohammedan, he united 
the difi'erent Mongol and Tartar tribes of Central Asia into a 
powerful and well organized army ; and on his march westward, 
in 1370, all the nations went down in ruin before him. The 
Turkomans galloped to the mountains; the hitherto invincible 
Mamlukes, after the defeats at Baalbek and Damascus, -wheeleA. 
round, and fleeing to Egypt, left all Syria at the mercy of the 
invader. The Ottoman Turks then advanced from Asia Minor, 
but while the prudent Timur Chan (Tamerlane) secured all the 
means that could facilitate his victory, the proud Bayazid, the 
Thunderbolt, despising his enemy, and neglecting that pre- 
caution which had procured him the victories of Nicopolis 
and Semendria, ran into the snare of his wily adversary at 
Angora, where he lost his throne and his liberty. Tamerlane 
was as great a warrior as he was a statesman ; his army was 
the first of modern times in which the difi"erent bodies of 
troops were distinguished by the colors of their uniforms ; his 
artillery was more formidable than that of the Turks ; and his 
Tartar cuirassiers, admirably mounted and armed, rode down 
with irresistible impetuosity the Spahis and Janissaries, then in 
the height of their glory. But we turn with disgust from the 
bloody pages of his history, and behold, with a shudder, in 
Damascus and Bagdad, the chapels built to commemorate the 
spots where he reared his horrible pyramids of human skulls 
to grace his triumph over slaughtered nations. On his sudden 
death, at Otrar, on the river Sihun, Sir (the ancient Jaxartes), 
the 18th February, 1405, his empire extended from Smyrna, 
on the Mediterranean, to Delhi and Patna, on the Ganges, and 
from the Don and Terek to the Nile and Indian Ocean. 
Samarkand and Kesch were his capitals, which he adorned 
with magnificent mosques and bazaars. The Great Chan him- 
self, with all his court, lived encamped under tents, in the 
environs of these cities; the most extravagant luxury was 
introduced, and the splendor of dresses and furniture sur- 
passed all belief The celebrated armorers of Damascus and 
the silk weavers of India were transported to Samarkand, 
which rose as the centre of Asiatic commerce in communica- 
tion with Russia, China, and the countries on the Mediter- 
ranean. Yet his numerous sons immediately divided his 
empire ; they refused to recognize his nephew, Pir Mohammed 
Dschihangir, as their sovereign, and thus many smaller 
dynasties were formed. The Ottomans reconquered Asia 
Minor; the Turkomans, Persia; the Mamlukes returned from 
Egypt, while the Timurid Chiefs of Upper Asia were, by 
endless wars, circumscribed to Eastern Persia, Chorasan, and 
Kandahar, until they too, in their turn, sank before the 



EIGHTH PEEIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. EGYPT— ALMAGREB. 



211 



AfFghans, the Usbeks, and other northern tribes from 
the Steppes, and only the Great Mogul of Delld, in Hin- 
doostan, retained yet for a length of time the title and the 
wealth, if not the talents and bloody laurels of his gigantic 
ancestor. 

XXIII. — The Sultanate of the Circassian Mamlukes. 

640. Extent, Conquests, and Dynasties. — The Mamluke 
Sultans (365) had enlarged their Egyptian empire from the 
ruins of the two Christian kingdoms in Sj'ria, that of Jeru- 
salem, in 1291, and that of Armenia (Cilicia), in 1371. It 
reached from the rugged coastland of Isschilli (the ancient 
Isauria), along Bulghar Dagh (Mount Taurus), to the Eu- 
phrates, and through the great Syrian desert and Idumaja, to 
the Bahr Akabah or the Aelanetic Gulf of the Red Sea, in- 
cluding Egypt and the western coastland as far as Barca (the 
ancient Cyrenaica) and the smaller Syrtis, where it bordered, 
on the kingdom of Tunis. Among all the Oriental govern- 
ments that had sprung up since the Crusades, the most lawless 
and barbarous was that of the Mamlukes. The Baharid 
dynasty took its name from Bahr, that is, the sea, because its 
wild Mamluke warriors were encamped at Rudah^ in the 
Delta, on the sea-shore. After the reign of twenty-four 
Sultans, it was overturned, in 1382, by the Circassian Mam- 
luke Barkok el Thaher (the Glorious), with whom begins the 
second dynasty of the twenty-one Circassian Sultans, who, 
under continual revolutions, assassinations, and monstrous 
cruelties, ruled those beautiful but unhappy countries until 
their conquest by the Ottoman Turks, in 1517. 

641. The condition of Egypt was miserable in the highest 
degree ; and its Mohammedan and Coptic Christian inhabit- 
ants were oppressed and ill-treated by this ruthless military 
government. Great riches, however, flowed together into 
Egypt during this period, on account of the brisk commerce 
of the Italian Republics, principally of Venice, with the East 
Indies, by way of Alexandria, the Nile, and the cities on the 
Red Sea. The Sultans protected this commerce, and sent 
their fleets to the states of Cananor, Calecut, Cranganor, and 
others on the Malabar coast of India, whence they brought 
home the spices, ivory, jewelry, silks, and other rich produc- 
tions of the East. Venice was therefore in a close alliance 
with the Mamluke Sultans, and attempted in vain with them 
to frustrate the bold designs of the Portuguese on the Indian 
coasts, after the discovery of the sea passage around the 
African Cape of Good Hope, by Vasco de Gama, in the year 
1497. The commercial and political relations of the Egyp- 
tian Sultans and the Republic of Venice to the Portuguese 
navigators and the Indian princes are highly interesting, but 
they belong to the Colonial Geography of Modern History. 

The Mohammedan Dynasties in Al-Magreb (Western 
Africa). 

642. General Remarks. — Having finished our sketch of 
the geographical position of all the European and Western 
Asiatic states, from the period of the Crusades to that' of the 
discovery of America, we think it proper not to close our 
work without mentioning the revolutions which during that 
time had taken place on the shores of Barbary. Though they 
did not exert any direct influence on the principal political 
events of Europe or Asia, they nevertheless had weight upon 
the relations of the Moslemin and Christians in Spain. The 
African dynasties were three in number ; one of which still 
occupies the throne of Morocco ; the other two, Tunis and 
Tlemsen (Algiers), became notorious as the states of those 



desperate Corsairs, who, in spite of all the exertions of the 
emperor, Charles V., continued for nearly three centuries 
to obstruct the commerce on the Mediterranean, and bring 
desolation and misery over the civilized nations inhabiting its 
shores. 

XXIV. — The Kingdom of Tunis. 

643. Extent and Dynasties. — Tunis, Kairouan, Mahadia, 
and Tripolis, together with the adjacent islands, Carchis and 
Gerbes, had, in 1147, been occupied by the Norman, King 
Roger I. of Sicily (333). Yet these possessions on the main- 
land of Africa were later abandoned by the Italian Normans 
during the decline of their power in 1160. Soon the Al- 
Muahedin (Almohads), in their enthusiastic advance through 
Africa and Spain, took possession of Tunis and the cities on 
the Syrtis. When, however, their principal efforts became 
directed against the Castilians of Spain, a young warrior, 
Abu-Hafs-Omar-Ben-Yahia, the son of one of their most 
distinguished generals, obtained the command in Tunis, and 
his great-grandson, Abu Zakaria I., extending his conquests 
beyond Tripolis, and southward through the desert to the 
Negro states, made himself independent, and took the title of 
Sultan or Emir al Mumemin al Murtesi (the Orthodox) in 
1250. During the trouble of his son Abu-Abdallah-Moham- 
med-Mostanser with his uncles. Tunis was besieged by Saint 
Louis and his French crusading army in 1270. But the Arabs 
made a bold defence, and the French king, with many of his 
barons, perished by the plague on the promontory of Carthage. 
The dynasty of Abu-Halfs continued their sway during the 
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, under frequent internal 
revolutions and feuds with the western dynasties of the Zianids 
in Tlemsen, and the Merinids of Morocco, until Muley II. 
Hassan, a younger brother, by terrible cruelties against his 
relatives, attempted to secure the throne of Tunis — 1500- 
1534. But his half-brother, Ar-Rashid, fled to Hairadin, the 
renegade chief of Algiers, and obtained a Turkish fleet for 
his support. The terrible corsair soon forced Muley Has- 
san to surrender : but instead of placing the Arab prince on 
the throne, according to his promise, Hairadin took himself 
possession of the fine city. This usurpation caused that bril- 
liant campaign of 1535, in which Charles V. stormed the for- 
tress of Goletta, delivered thousands of Christian slaves, and 
replaced the old unworthy Muley on the throne of Tunis. 
The kingdom of Tunis extended from Milah and Constan- 
tina on the west, along the territory of ancient Carthage to 
Barca on the east, with the cities of Bona (Hippo Regius), 
Hamamet, Sfakes, Cabes, Tripolis, and Lebicla. Tunis, the 
capital, was then one of the largest cities in Africa ; the for- 
tress Goletta, Arabic Halkolvad, commanding the entrance 
of the bay, secured the Spanish influence over the greater part 
of the northern coast of Africa. 

XXV. — The Kingdom of Tlemsen. 

644. Extent and Revolutions. — Moi'e powerful than the 
Abu-Hafsids in Tunis were the Zianids in the western Magreb- 
al-Ausah or Tlemsen. Abu-Yahia-Yagmurassen-Ben-Zian, 
by descent a Fatimid (280), raised in 1240 the banner against 
the Almohads in Morocco (334), and took the proud title of 
caliph. He was a distinguished and victorious general in 
sixty-two battles, a friend and generous protector of Arabic 
poets and historians. His descendants, the Zianids, repelled 
the attacks of the Merinids of Morocco, and extended their 
dominions along the coast. Some were benevolent princes, 
but others, as usual, luxurious tyrants, and horrible crimes 
and civil feuds deluged their thrones with blood. The capital 



212 



EIGHTH PERIOD.— A. D. 1300-1453. FEZ AND MOROCCO. 



was the strongly-fortified Tlemesen, in the interior. Oran, 
on the western coast, was taken by the Spaniards in 1448. 
Al Dschezair (Algiers), Mahadia, Mascara, and Bouchha, 
were likewise cities on the coast. Thousands of Spanish Mo- 
hammedans fleeing from Granada, after its conquest by Fer- 
nando and Isabella, settled in the African ports and began 
those daring piracies against the Christian vessels which, after- 
wards, under Hairadiu (Chair-ed-Din) Barbarossa, the Cor- 
sair, from Lesbos, who occupied the throne of the Zianids in 
1533, as Dey of Algiers, took the fearful character of a 
general piratical warfare against all Christian nations on the 
Mediterranean. 

XXVI. — The Kingdom of Fez and Morocco. 

645. Dynasties, Extent, and Provinces. — After the 
battle of Toloso, in Andalusia, in 1212, when the power of the 
Almohad kings had been shaken in Spain, the wealthy and 
talented chief of the Merinid family in Africa, Abd-al-Hak- 
Yahia, Ebn-Bekr, from Teza, in the province of Schaus, east 
of Fez, rose in arms against the ruling Almohad dynasty, and 
his son Abu-Bekr I. conquered the capital on the 20th of 
August, 1248. The Merinids rapidly obtained possession of 
the whole fertile and prosperous regions of Magreb-al- 
Aksa (214). 

Abul- Hassan, the Merinid, raised his standard about a. d. 
1350 over the whole Barbary coast ; the eastern dynasties 
were forced to recognize the supremacy of the Merinids, yet 
the maritime expeditions of the Portuguese, and particularly 
their conquest of Ceuta in 1415, so much distracted the kings 
of Morocco, that many of their vassals again threw ofi" their 
allegiance, and thus forwarded the ambitious designs of the 
Christians. In 1471, Emir Seid Oataz, of a lateral Merinid 
line, having been driven from his government ofArzilla, by the 
Portuguese (582), gathered an army in the interior, and took 
possession of Fez and Morocco at the head of eight thousand 
horse, and his successors, the Oatazids, maintained their do- 
minion for eighty years. In 1550, however, Mohammed 
Sherif, of the ancient family of a sainted Marabut, himself 
a learned and flattering courtier, gained the favor of the 
king and army in the wars against the Portuguese, and 
ascending from one high situation to another, culminated by 
overturning the throne of the last Oatazid, and founding the 
present empire of the Scherifs in Morocco, Fez, Tajilelt, 
and Sus. 

646. The kingdom extended from the river Moluya, on 
the borders of Tlemsen, westward along the coast to the city 
of Ceuta, which from the year 1415 was in the possession of the 
Portuguese, together with the whole western coastland, south 
as far as Alcazar- al-Kebir, at that time forming the Portu- 
guese province of Algarb beyond the Sea (582, 583). The 
high range of Mount Atlas, by the Arabs called Djebal Teclla 
and Adimmei, formed the eastern frontier, and separated 
Morocco from the independent Moorish states of Tajilelt, 
Sedjelmessa, and Darali, on the outskirts of the great desert 
Sahara, in the interior. On the south the border ran along 
the river Wady Darah, which discharges itself into the 
Atlantic, south of Ccobo de Ndo, nearly opposite to the Cana- 
rian Islands. Miknasa (Mequines) was the ancient capital 
of the Saracen conquerors. Fez (Faz), in a beautiful valley 



surrounded by high mountains, near the river Seboiteh, was 
founded in the year 807 by Edris-ben-Edris (214), whose 
father had raised Magrebal-Aksa into the kingdom of Me- 
quines, independent of the Caliph of Cordova in Andalos 
(Spain). His splendid mosque and sepulchre are still the 
objects of numerous pilgrimages from every part of the Mo- 
hammedan world. Fez was long the seat of Arabic learning 
and industry, and celebrated by its colleges, palaces, hospitals, 
sanctuaries^ and other public edifices of Oriental piety and 
munificence. 

Morocco (Merakash), south of Mequines, in the extensive 
and well-watered plain of Eylana, was still a small village at 
the first appearance of the Almoravids in 1050, but it became 
later, after the union of their empire by the conquest of Fez, 
the capital and residence of the Nazar-ed-Din of Morocco, 
and the most populous and commercial city in the kingdom. 
Agadir, Mogador, and Asafy, were thriving ports on the 
coast of the Atlantic. Tmmal, on an elevated site amid the wild 
mountains of Darah, on the south, was for years the refuge of 
the Almohad sectarians in the twelfth century. In the desert 
of LamtAina, south of Darah, arose the austere religious sect 
of the Almoravids, whose conquests and government in Africa 
and in Spain constitute one of the brightest pages in the Ara- 
bian annals. On the plain near Alcazar-al- Kebir was fought 
the bloody battle between the old dying Mohammed Moluk and 
the young King Sebastian of Portugal, on August 4, 1578, in 
which the latter and nearly his entire army were cut to pieces. 
This great disaster, and the subsequent subjection of Portugal 
herself by King Philip II. of Spain, put an end to all the Por- 
tuguese designs of aggrandizement in Africa, and the evacua- 
tion of most of the maritime cities which they had conquered 
at such an enormous expense of blood and treasure during the 
fifteenth century, the period of their military glory. 

The kingdom of Morocco did not yield to the Moham- 
medan states in Spain during the brilliant era of Arabian 
civilization. The great King Abd-el-Mumen, the Almohad, 
embellished his beloved Morocco with elegant aljamas 
(mosques), tanks, aqueducts, gardens, and colleges, where 
literature and science were taught to form able cadis, walis, 
and military officers. He assembled the sons of the most distin- 
guished chiefs of the Bei'bers and Kabyles from the desert to 
the number of several thousands, and gave these young Hafitca 
a complete literary and military education, being himself present 
at their exercises, like Charlemagne, and encouraging their 
exertions by presents and offices of confidence ; and Morocco 
became thus the centre of the Mohammedan power, from 
which those myriads of warriors were launched on Spain, who 
for centuries retarded the progress of the Christian arms. 

" Yet," to close with the words of Prescott, the great 
American historian, " the empire which once embraced more 
than half the ancient world has now shrunk within its original 
limits, and the Bedouin wanders over his native desert as free 
and almost as uncivilized as before the coming of his apostle. 
The language which was once spoken along the southern 
shores of the Mediterranean, and the whole extent of the 
Indian Ocean, is broken up into a variety of discordant dia- 
lects. The elegant diction of the Koran is studied as a dead 
language, even in the birthplace of the Prophet, and darkness 
has again settled over those regions of Africa which were 
illumined by the light of learning." 



A D D E I D A. 



§ 226. Professor P. Kruse in Saint Petersburg, gives in 
an interesting treatise, translated into the Annals of the 
Northern Antiquaries for 1844, a more detailed account of 
the origin of the War^gs, who, under the command of the 
Jutish Chief Ruric, in 852, laid the foundation of the Rus- 
sian empire. The Warags, according to his statement, form- 
ed part of the far-spreading Gothic nation. They inhabited 
the southeastern coast of Sweden, opposite to Finnland, then 
called RosLAGEN, where they early obtained the name of Ross, 
or Russians. They were already known to the Grreek geo- 
graphers in Alexandria, and Ptolemy mentions them as a wild 
piratical nation, under the name of ^ipala-oi — Phir/esi — Va- 
reesi, or Warsegs, from whom the Finnic gulf was called the 
sea of the Warsegs. They likewise appear among the Grothic 
swarms during their first invasion of the Roman empire, in 
the second century of our era, and they began already to take 
service in the Roman army of the Emperor Maximin, the 
Thracian, in 235, under the name of Fasderaii, Var^si. Hav- 
ing united with Ruric and his Jutes, they occupied northern 
Russia, and extended their relations southward to the Black 
Sea and Constantinople, where we find them again some cen- 
turies later, among the Scandinavian warriors, as Varangki, 
the faithful body-guard surrounding the throne of the Byzan- 
tine emperors. The name of Russia, therefore, appears for 
the first time on the Lakes of Ladoga and Ilmen, toward the 
beginning of the tenth century. 

^ 266. Ancient Cappadocia, situated north of Mount Tau- 
rus, and west of its eastern branch, the Anti-Taurus was by 
the Romans divided into Piima and Secunda (26), During 
the reign- of Justinian I., or later — says Constantine Porphy- 
rogenitus — these provinces were formed into two military 
Themes, which, therefore, must take their place among the rest, 
though the Imperial Historian has omitted to give them their 
numbers. 

XIII. Thema Charsianum — ©e/xa Xaptrtai/ov — embraced 
the northern part of Cappadocia, bordering on the Armenian 
and Bukellarian Themes ; it obtained its name from a brave 
Byzantine general, Charsias, who had distinguished himself in 
the wars against the Persians. Kaisareia, on the Melas, a 
tributary of the Halys, was the metropolis. Other cities 
mentioned by Constantine, were Wyssa, northeast of the 
former, T/ierma and Regipodanos. 

XIV. Thema Capfadocijs — 0e/xa KaTTTraSoKia? — consisted 
of Lesser or Central Cappadocia, south of the Charsian 
Theme. It was separated fi-om Cilicia by the high range of 
Mount Taurus, and bordered west on the Anatolian Theme and 
the extensive plains of ancient Lycaonia. It was traversed 
by the river Halys, and the large saltish lake of Tatta occu- 
pied its centre. Constantine relates that it had of late been 
organized as a Theme with its military commanders and border 
garrisons — Tyana, on the northern slope of Mount Taurus, 
was the metropolis; Faustinopolis, Kybistra, Nanzianzos, 
Erysima, Parnassos, on the Lake of Tatta, Diokaisareia, 
Rodnndos, and several fortresses on Mount Taurus, are 
mentioned in the Byzantine historians. These two Themes 
will thus take their place among "the tioenty-nine, and the 
PRyEFECTURE OF Cyprus (267), and the Eparchy of Crete 
(268) will fall out as being still in the possession of the 
Saracens. 



^ 439. The disputes between the Swedish Archbishops of 
Upsala, and the Danish Primates of Lund (293), who refused 
to recognize the independence of the former, and their right 
to take the pallium directly from Rome, continued during 
the greater part of the fourteenth century. The arrogant 
John Grand, the Archbishop of Lund — 1289-1302— excom- 
municated his rival, while the no less violent John of Upsala 
returned the compliment, and sought himself redress in Rome. 
Yet the Popes in Avignon, though bribed by both parties with 
large sums of money, left the dispute undecided until the year 
1367, when Pope Urban V. at last recognized the indepen- 
dence of the metropolitan see of Upsala of the Danish Primate 
of Lund. From that time until the Reformation in 1632, the 
Swedish Church formed a separate province — Provincia Up- 
SALiENSis, with the six sufiFragans. the Bishops of Linkoping, 
Skara, Sirengnds, Wexio, Westeraas, and Ao.bo, in Finnland. 
Among the numerous convents were celebrated those of the 
Dominican and the Franciscan monks at Skara, in West Goth- 
land, and Sigtuna, and the nunneries of Santa Clara, Santa 
Maria, the Sko-Kloster of Cistercian Nuns on the Mgelarn, 
and the still more magnificent sanctuary of Saint Bridget, at 
Wadstena, on the banks of the lake Wenern, where the vir- 
tuous and unhappy Queen Philippa of Denmai-k, found a re- 
fuge from the insults of her unworthy husband. King Eric the 
Pomeranian. 

§ 443. The ecclesiastical province of Norway — Provincia 
NiDARosiENsis — had been erected by Pope Eugenius III., in 
the year 1151. Its metropolitan see was in the ancient city 
of Trondhjem, on Nidaros (223), and embraced the four Nor- 
wegian bishoprics of Opslo, Stavangcr, Bergen, and Ham- 
mer, together with those of Skalholt and Holum, in Iceland, 
and that of the Fceroer. The episcopal sees of the Shet- 
land and Orkney Islands, which earlier had belonged as suf- 
fragans to Nidaros, were united to the Province of Saint An- 
drews in Scotland, on the cession of those islands to King 
James III., in 1469. A bishopric had, so early as 1 126, been 
established at Gardar, in Greenland, where it remained flou- 
rishing for three centuries. Its last bishop, Endride Andrea- 
son, was ordained in Trondhjem, in 1406, and is known to 
have sailed for Greenland, where he officiated for several 
years. Soon, however, the navigation and commerce of those 
distant settlements was discontinued. The Icelandic colonies 
perished by war or pestilence, and it is only of late that inter- 
esting ruins, seals, and other antiquities of the mediseval 
churches, have been discovered at Gardar, on the Isthmus 
of Eid, at Igaliko, Kakorlok, and many other places on the 
Oest-Bygd, or Eastern coast of Greenland.* 

^ 449. The Church of Poland embraced three vast pro- 
vinces with a great number of suffragan bishopries. On the 
west, I., Provincia Gneznensis, with the metropolitan see in 
Gnezen (250, 312), it extended eastward through Mazovia, 
northern Lithuania, and Samogitia, with the episcopal sees 
oi Plozko, Wilna, and Medniki. North lay II., Provincia 

* See for details on the discovery of the Icelandic Settlements and 
the probable fate of tlie inhabitants, the Expedition of Capt. W. A. 
Graah to the east coast of Greeidand, in the English translation by 
George Macdougall, Esq., London, 1837 — pages 38-44, and the re 
searches of Prof Charles C. Rafn on \\\s Ancient Oeographi/ of Green- 
land, Copenhagen, 1845. 



214 



ADDENDA— LIST OF AUTHORS. 



RiGENSis, with the see in Riga, and the suffragans of Poine- 
o-ania, Warmia, Samait.ia, Courland^ (Esel, and Dorpat. 
Esthland, on the Finnic gulf, belonged to the Danish province 
of Lund in Skaane. III., Provincia Leopoliensis, with 
the archiepiscopal see in Lemberg, reached south through Ha- 
licz (Galicia) and Bukoivina, to the frontiers of 3Ioldavia 
and Hungary. The Granduchy of Russia, belonging to the 
Oriental Greek Church, consisted of two provinces, those of 
Moscow and KiEw. 



§ 646. For the last twenty-five years, however, European 
civilization and progress have begun to dawn on the northern 
coastlands of Africa, in consequence of the occupation of Al- 
giers and Constantina by the French, in 1830-1836. The 
successful conquests and extending colonization of that active 
and powerful nation in Barbary, exert already a beneficent in- 
fluence on the political and social institutions of the neighbor- 
ing Mohammedan States of Tunis, Tripolis, Morocco, and the 
Arabian nomadic tribes of Mount Atlas. 



List of Authors on the History and Geography of the Middle Ages, whose Works have been consulted in the com- 
position of the p)resent Manual. 



I. GEOGRAPHERS. 

Spruner (Charles von) — VorhomerTcungen zum Historixch-Geogr aphis- 
then Hand-Atlas. Gotlia, 1837-1846. 86 passes, 4to., containing 
highly valuable notices for the description of his great Atlas. 

An'sart (Felix) — Precis de la Geographie Historique du Moyen Age — Ide 
Edition. Paris, 1838. 152 pages, 8vo., whicli we have followed 
in the main divisions, in the concise introductory chapter on the 
Roman Empire, and in its accurate and minute description of 
France. 

Malte Brun's System of Universal Geography. Boston, 1834, 3 vols., 
4to., has furnished us with several sketches of manners and insti- 
tutions among the mediaeval nations. The Dane, Malthe-Conrad 
Brun is the most distinguislied wi-iter on Modern Geography. 
His pertment remarks on tlie earlier condition of the countries he 
describes, have enlivened and embellished his work, and secured 
its rank as the philosophical Geograpliy of the age. 

Mannert's and Uckert's Ancient Geographies have likewise been used 
for tlie earlier periods. 

II. HISTORIANS. 
I. General Histories of the Middle Ages. 

Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire stands first in rank ; 
yet more important for our purpose has been — 

RuEH's(FRtEDERicH) — Handbuch der GescMchte des Mittelalters. Berlin, 
1816, 8 vo. A profound and excellent work in nearly all its parts. 
The objection of others* to liis employing the ethnographical in- 
stead of the synchronistic metliod, has rendered tlie book more 
precious to us. 

Reiim's (Friederich) — Ha,ndbuch der GeschicJite des Mittelalters. Mar- 
burg, 1821, I.-II. vol., and Gassel, 1834, III.-VII. vol., became our 
guide for the chronology and the genealogical tables. 
" " Lehrbuch der Geschichte des Mittelalters. Cassel, 

1840, 8vo., is a useful abridgment of the former. 

Leo (Heinrich) — Lehrhuch der Geschichte des Mittelalters. Halle, 1830, 
8vo. , and liis voluminous Handbuch on tlie same subject. 

Luden's (Heinrich) — Allgemeine Geschichte der Volker und Staate.n des 
Mittelalters. Jena, 1821. I.-II. vol., 8vo. 

Eichhorn's (Johann Gottfried) — Weltgeschichte, Second vol. Reutlin- 
gen, 1819. 

Hallam's (Henrt) View of the State of Europe during the Middle Ages. 
London, 1818. L-IL vol., 4to. 

II. Special Histories. 

Germanic Nations — Manso's History of the Ostrogoths. 

Dr. John Aschbach's History of the Visigoths. 

Frankfurt, 182'7. 
Henry Leo's Geschichte der Italienischcn Staaten. 

Vol. I. Hamburg, 1836. 
Augustin Thierry — Lettrcs sur I'hisioire de France. 

Bruxelles, 1836. 
Slmonde de Sismondi — Histoire des Franqais. Brux- 
elles, 1836. Vol. L-VIIL 
M. Micuelet — History of France. New-York, 1845. 
Vol. L-IL 
Sclavonian Nations — Paul Joseph Schafarik's Slawische Alterthihner. 

Leipzig, 1843. L-IL vol. 8vo. 
Crusades — Jacobus Bongars — Gesta Dei per Francos. Hanovrise, 1611. 
Fol. 
Friederich WiLKEN — GescMclite der KreuzxiXge. Vol. I.-VII. 
Michaud — Histoire des Croisades. Vol. I.-VI. 
Robinson and Smith — Biblical Re.%earches in Palestine. 

Boston, 1841. Vol. I.-IIL 
Ernst Gustav Souultz — Jerusalem. Berlin, 1845. 
Ireland — Ledrich's Antiquities of Ireland. 

Thomas Moore's History of Ireland. 
Scotland — Buchanan — Rerum IScoticarum. Historia. Lib. XX. Edinburgh, 
1582. 
TltiK^RTON's History of Scotland. London, 1797. I.-H. vol. 

4to. 
"Walter's Scott's numerous works. 

♦Sec Honrv Leo's Lclirbiicli of Mediieval History. Halle, 1830, pngo (!. 



England — Lappenberg's History of the Anglo-Saxons. 
Likgard's History of England. 
Sharon Turner and others. 
Denmark — T. C. Dahlmann — Geschichte von Ddnnemark. Hamburg 
1840-43. Vol. L-IIL, 8vo. 
Frederik Hammerich — Danmarki Valdemarernes Tid., 1157- 

1375. Kiobenhavn, 1847. Vol. I.-IL 
Gustav Ludvig Baden — Hanmarks Riges Historic. Kioben- 
havn, 1829. 1st vol. 
Norway — Jacob Aal's Translation of the Heimskringla of Snorro 
Sturleson, with valuable geographical notes and map 
Christiania, 1838. Vol. L-IL 
Samuel Laing's Travels in Norway. London, 1836. 
Sweden — E. G. Geijer — History of Sweden, in the English translation. 

Z. ToPEDius — Finnland. Helsingfors, 1845. 4to. 
Russia — Nikolas M. Karamsin's History of the Ru.man Empire, in 
a Fi'ench Translation. Paris, 1806. Vol. L-VIIl. 
Prof Kruse's Russian Antiquities. 
Poland — Joachim Lelbvi-bl— Geschichte Polens — Leipzig, 1847, with an 

Historical Atlas. A noble book. 
Prussia — Johannes Voigt — Geschichte Preussens von den altesten Zeiten. 
Konigsberg, 1827. Vol. L-IIL, and his Geschichte Ma- 
rienburgs, 1824. 
France — See Germanic Nations. 

Germany — K. T. Eichhorn's DcMiisc/je Staats und Rechtsgeschichte. Vol. 
L-IL Gottingen, 1821. 
Fried, von Raumer — Geschichte der Hohenstaufen und ihrer 

Zeit. Leipzig, 1840. Vol. L-VL 8vo. 
Fried. Kohlrauscii — History of Germany. New-York, 1852. 
Henry Luden, Sertorius, and others. 
Switzerland — Johannes von Mueller — Geschichte der Schweitzerischen 
Eidgenossenschaft. Stuttgart and Tiibingeii, 1852. 
Vol. L-X. 12mo. 
Hungary — Count John Mailath's History of the Hungarians. 1830. 
Portugal — Ippolito Herculano — Historia de Portugal. Lisbon, 1846. 
Vol. 1st 
Heinrich Schaefer — Geschichte von Portugal. Hamburg, 

1836-50. Vol. L-IIL 
Dunham's History of Spain and Portugal. New-York, 1852. 
Vol. I.-V. 
Spain — Don Jose Anton Conde — Historia de la dominacion de los Ara- 
bes en Espana. Paris, 1840. 8vo. 
Lembke — Geschichte von Spanien. Hamburg, 1830. Vol. I. 
Ernest Alexander Smith — Geschichte Aragoniens irn Miltel- 

alter. Leipzig, 1828. 8vo. 
William H. Prescott — History of the Reign of Ferdinand and 
Isabella. Boston, 1838. Vol. I.-IIL 
Italy — Henry Leo — Geschichte der Italienischcn Staaten. Hamburg, 
1830. Vol. L-V. 
" " Die Lombardischen Stddte. Hamburg, 1824. 

Raumer's Geschichte der Holienstaufen. 
Machiavelli and other works of Italian Historians. 
Byzantine Empire — Constantine Porphyrogenitus and other Byzantine 
Historians. 
John William Zinkeisen — Geschichte Griechenlands. 

Leipzig, 1832. Vol. L 
J. A. BucHON — Histoire desConqu^tesetdeVetablisse- 
ment des Frangais dans les etats de Vanciennc 
Grece. Paris, 1846. Vol. L-IL 
Fallmerayer — Geschichte der Halbinscl Morea im 

Mittelalter. Stuttgart, 1825-30. Vol. I.-II. 
Ernst Curtius — Peloponnesus. Gotha, 1851-52. 

Vol. L-H. 
George Finlay — Mediceval Greece and Trebizond. 

Edinburgh, 1851. 
Juan de Moncada — Espedicion de los Catalanes y 
Araqoneses contra Turcos y Griegos. Paris, 
1840. 
Mohammedan States in Asia — See Crnsades. 

Baron J. von Hamjier — Geschichte der 
Osmanen. Pesth, 1825. Vol. I.-V, 
and numerous works of travels in 
the East. 
Mohammedan States in Magrbb, Conde, Dunham, and Rehm. 



HISTORICAL INDEX. 



THE NUMBERS INDICATE THE PARAGRAPHS. 



A. 

Abadid dynasty of Sevilla, 334. 
Abailard, the French philosoplier, 392. 
Abbasid caliphs, 198, 199, 274, 326, 637. 
Abdallah Mostassem Billah, 20T, 274. 
Abdallah V. K.aim Beamrillah, 326. 
Abdallah-el-Zagal, 008. 
AbdiiUah-cl-Zaguir (Boabdeli), 603. 
Abd-el-Hak-Yahia, of Morocco, 645. 
Abd-el-Malek, conqueror of Carthage, 194. 
Abd-el-Melek, caliph, 274. 
Abd-el-Mumen, of Morocco, 646. 
Abd-er-Kaman, the Ommyiad, 198, 258. 
Abd-er-Karaan III., Emir of Cordova, 25S. 
Abel, King of Denmark, 294. 378. 
Absalon (Axel), archbishop, 293, 377. 
Abu-Abdallah Mohammed, of Tunis, 648. 
Abu-Bekr,Almoravid Emir of Morocco, 334. 
Abu-Bekr I. of Morocco, 645. 
Aba-Bekr, caliph, 201. 
Abu-Gosh, robber chief. 340. 
Abn-Hafs-Omar-Ben Tahi.1, 643. 
Abul- Abbas el Saffah, 198. 
Abul-Hassan-Ali of Egypt, 280. 
Abul-Kassem of Egypt, 280. 
Abu-Zakaria I. ot Tunis, 643. 
Abyssinian kings, 200. 
Acciajuoli, Florentine family, Dukes of 

Athens, 620. 
Acunhas family, 584. 
Adulides, commanders of the light troops 

in Castile, 589. 
Ad.ani, Bishop of Bremen, 301. 
.\dclaide of Ivrea, 24(i. 
Adelaide of Vohbuig. 395. 
Adelaide of Burgundy, 25!. 
Ademar, JU-hop^.f I'uy. 327. 
Adolph nf Nassau, 519. 
Adolpli 1 , Duke of drives, 531. 
Adolph VI., Count of Holstein, 444. 
Adrian IV , Pope, 283. 
Adscripti Gli-hm (serfs) of Hungary, 314. 
Adminii, Moorish council, 215. 
Aelfred the Great, 221. 
Aescewine, sou of Oft'a, 104. 
Aethelnotii, of Canterbury, 282. 
Aethelred II. tlie Uiu'eady, 289. 
Aetlielstaue, King of EugUand, 221. 
Aethlings (nobles), 79, 290. 
Aetins, lloman general, 117. 
Agellianus the Athenian, 268. 
Aglabid dynasty, 198, 259. 
AgitulHngian dynasty, 250. 
Agues de Conrtenay, 358. 
Agnes of Fi'anconiii, 395. 
Agnes of Hungary. 552. 
Agnes of S.-uirhriicken, 359. 
Agnes Sorel, 479, 483. 
Agramont faction in Navarra, 601. 
Ahded-Ledin-Illah, 280, 332. 
Ahmed-Bcn-Bujah, 277. 
Ahmed-Ben-Tuluu, 280. 
Ahmed-Moez-ed-Daula, 277. 

Ahmed IV. lUiadi, 274. 

Aime, monk of Monte Casino, 321. 

Akatziri (Khozars), 90. 

Ak-Koinlu, White Horde of Turkomans, 
626, 631. 

Alah-ed-Din, first vizir, 627. 

Alah-ed-Din, Karamanian prince, 629 

Alan of Galloway, 435. 

Alan Vipont, 436. 

Alani,Turco-Gothic nation, 90, 126. 

Alard de Saint Val^ry, 424. 

Ahuic the Visigoth, 82, 40, 57. 

Alaiic II.. 112. 

Albanian settlements in Greece, 861, (22. 

Albanian tribes (Caucasus), 135. 

Albanians, 359, 624. 

Alberici (Ugone), 410. 

Albert I., emperor, 521. 

Albert the Bear, 396, 51T. 

Albert with the Cue, 523, 524. 

Albert the Wicked, 519. 

Albert the Wise, 523. 

Albertine dynasty, 518. 

Albigenses, 392. 

Alboin the Lotnbard, 121, 152. 

Albornoz, Cardinal, 013. 

Albrecht of Bavaria, 497. 

Albrecht of Brandenburg, 453. 

Albrecht of Mecklenburg, 880, 438. 

Albuquerques de la Cuova, family in Cas- 
tile, 590. 



Alcahala, Moorish tribute, 258. 

Aldebert of Perigueux, 245. 

Alemanri, 75, 81, 133. 

Alexander of Bulgaria, 367. 

Alexander the Great, 211. 

Alexander III., Pope, 411. 

Alexander of Poland, 446. 

Alex.ander of Soltwedel, 403. 

Alexander II. of Scotland, 288, 435. 

Alexander III of Scotland, 485. 

Alexander Stuart, 487. 

Alexiiid of Anna Comnena, 315. 

Alexius Angelus the Usurper, 351. 

Alexius Angelus the Crusader, 851. 

Alexius Comnenus, emperor, 254, 315. 

Ale.xiuB I., Grand-Comnenus, 351, 374. 

Alexius IV., of Trebizond, 626. 

Alexius Mursuphlos, 851. 

Al-Faradsh - Ebn - Osman-al-Karmath the 

Heretic, 279. 
Alfonso VI. of Castile, 316, 334. 
Alfonso X. of Castile, 577. 
Alfonso XI. of Castile, 591, 592. 
Alfonso VII., Eamundez of Galieia, 316. 
Alfonso I. of Leon, 207, 316. 
Alfonso V. of Leon, 316. 
Alfonso Henriquez of Portugal, 574. 
Alfonso III. of Portugal, 577, 578. 
Alfonso IV. of Portugal, 580, 591. 
Alfonso V. of Portugal, 579,583. 
Alfred of Hauteville, 321. 
Al-Hakim IL of Cordova, 258. 
Alhamarid dynasty, 587, 603. 
Al-Hud dynasty, 320, 834. 
All, the Caliph and Saint, 207. 
Ali-Ben-Bujah, 277. 
Ali-Ben-Na'amh, .322. 
Alidosi, Signors of Imola, 414, 613. 
Alites(Sliiites), Mohammedan Heretics, 207 
Allodium, 118. 
Al-Mamun, caliph, 274. 
Almanzas family in Leon, 590. 
Almanzor, caliph, 2o7. 
Almanzor, vizir, 255, 316. 
Almaydas family, 584. 
Almerids, dynasty of, 320. 
Almocadenes, commanders of the scouts 

in Castile, 589. 
Almohad dynasty, 316, 334. 
Alnwjitfifazgo, Moorish excise, 258. 
Al-Mondar, Arabian chief, 203. 
Almoravid dynasty, 334, 574. 
Almotacels, police officers, 578. 
Almugavares, Christian border-wardens, 

258, 326, 589, 597. 
Almvgcwrias, border-forays, 589. 
Alnazar-ed-Din, 316. 
Alonso I. el Batallador of Aragon, 316. 
Alonso IV. of Aragon, 595. 

Alonso V. of Aragon, 508, 614, 615. 

Alp-Arslan, Seldjukid sultan, 324, 826. 

Althing, national assembly in Iceland, 298. 
Alvaro Gonzales, marshal of Portugal, 580. 

Alvaro de Luna, 592. 

Amadeus I., Count of Savoy, 246. 

Amadeus III., Count of Savoy, 413. 

Amadeus VIlI., Duke of Savoy, 611. 

Amalasuntha, daughter of Theodoric, 127. 

Amali, dynasty of^OO. 

Amalric, King of Jerusalem, 838. 

Amber, revenue of the Teutonic Order, 381. 

Amer-Ben-Alas (Amru), 206. 

Amru, Chief of Zabulistan, 275. 

Andechs, Counts of, 396. 

Andreas, King of Naples, 555, 61.5. 

Andreas II. of Hungary, 314, 555. 

Andi'iagh, or King of Ireland, 100. 

Andronicus Comnenus, emperor, 851. 

Andronicusthe Younger, emperor. 862, 625. 

Andronicus I., Grand-Comnenus, 374. 

Angarian Saxons, 178. 

Angeli, dynasty of, 351. 

Angevin House of Hungary, 555. 
of Naples, 423,''614. 

Angli, 78, 82, 105. 

Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. 143, 221. 

Anglo-Saxon tentints-in-chief, 293. 

Angul the Hero, 82. 

Angus-Og-McDonald, 286. 

Anhalt dynasties, 536. 

Anjon, dynasty of, 375, 502. 

Anlaf (Ulaf) the Dane, 221. 

Anna Comnena, the Princess, 315, 321, 325. 

Anna of Constantinople, 261. 



Anna of Bretagne, 504. 

Anne de Laval, 507. 

Anna of Lusignan, 611. ' 

Anna of Hungary, 555. 

Anna of Prussia, 517. 

Ansgarius, the Apostle of the North. 190, 

222. 
Ansemandus (Hanseman), Count of Septi- 

mania, 157. 
Anti, Sclavonian tribe, 91, 107. 
Antonio Acciii.juoli, Duke of Athens, 620. 
Antonius the Triumvir, 38. 
AntruMonen, 118. 
Appi'Uldost, military gatherings, 578. 
Aquilares family in Spain, 590. 
Ar.abic medical school of Salerno, 322. 
Archambaud, Seigniors of, 288. 
Archibald, Earl of Douglas, 435. 
Archibald Douglas, Bell-the-Cat, 486. 
Archers from Tellemarken, 190. 
Ardaric, King of tlie Gepida;, 122. 
Ariinanni (Heermiinner), 152. 
Armature of the Crusaders, 325. 
Armigeri (sergeants), 8S1. 
Arms of Godfrey of Bouillon, 3-39. 
Armory of Solothurn, 5.54. 
Arnauts, see Albanians. 
Arnold of Brescia, 405. 

Arnold Melchthal of Underwalden, 552. 
Arnold of Treves, 404. 
Arnold of Winkelried, 552. 

Arnolfo di Lapo, 416. 

Arnulf, King of Germany, 248, 253. 

Arpad, great Chan of the Magyars, 258. 
dynasty, 555. 

Ar-Kaschid of Tunis, 643. 

Arriere-hnn in Germany, 247. 

Arriere-ftelx in France, 386. 

Artaxerxes Babegan, the Sassanid, 96. 

Arthur, King of Damnonia, 10.3. 

Arthur II., Duke of Brittany, 470. 

Artois, French feudatories in Naples, 014. 

Ascanian family, 896. 

Axchr, Arabian titiie, 274. 

Ashraf-Khalil, Sultau of Egypt, 342. 

Asparuch, Chan of the Bulgars, 195. 

Asan, King of Bulgaria, 568. 

Asan II., King of Bulgaria, 367. 

As-Saleh-Nedimed, sultan, 838 

Assassins. 279, 846. 

Assize (Code) of Jerusalem. 348, 850, 856. 

At.abeks of Al-Dshesirah, 329. 
Halep, 330. 
Persia, 829. 

Atalayas, wardens. 578. 

Ataydes family, 584. 

Athole, Earl of, the regicide, 436. 

Attila the Hnn, 83, 117. 

Aurelian, Emperor, 11. 

Ausias March. Limosin poet, 596. 

Ausonius, Gallic poet, 69. 

Austrian dynasty, 511. 

huTOKpa.Tu>p, Byzantine title, 262. 

Avars. 149. 

Avaric armature, 149. 
life guards, 262. 

Averrhoes, see Ibn Eoshd, 834. 

Avicenna, the Ar.ab philosopher, 322. 

Ayxa, Queen of Granada. 604. 

Azan Zacharias Centuricne, Count of Cha- 
landritza, 021. 

AzzoofEste, 896. 



B. 



Babenbcrg, House of, 249, 396, 523. 
Baghi Sejan, commander of Antioeh, 835, 

846. 
Sagler, Norwegian warriors, 296. 
Baharid Mainlufces, 849, 863. 
Bahram, 6asna\id sultan, 275. 
Bahamir, King of the Huus, 89. 
Balder, Scandinavian god, 106. 
Baldwin of Boulogne, King of Jerusalem, 

827, 335, 347. 
Baldwin of Burg, II. King of Jerusalem, 

337, 347. 
Baldwin IIL of Jerusalem, 838, 841. 
Baldwin IV. of Jerusalem, 838. 
Baldwin V. of Jerusalem, 838. 
Baldwin of Flanders, Emperor of I'omania, 

351. 
Baldwin II. of Constantinople, 353. 
Baltes, dynasty of, 90. 



Bann um, Heer-ban or feudal army,118,247. 
Baf,a77oi (Taranghi) in Constantinople, 

220. 262. 
Bdrhnie (mercenary cavalry of Italian ty- 
rants), 414. 
Barcochba, Jewish leader, 11. 
Bardas Phokos, 825. 
Barkok el Taher, the Mamlufce sultan, 

640. 
Barons of Hungary, 814. 
BacTiKiKhv 'S.^Kpiruv, secret council, 362. 
Basilius L, emperor. 261, 266. 
Basilius II., the Bulgar Slaughterer, 193, 

824, 568. 
Basinns ofThnringJa, 120. 
Basques (Cantabii), 257. 
Bathorv familv, 562. 
Batty.an family. 562. 
Batu-Khan, the Mongol, 304, 385, 562. 
Bavarian dynasties, 511, 527. 
Bartholomeo Dias, 586. 
Bavazid Ilderim, snltan, 569, 627, 629, 630. 
Bityazid II.. sultan, 627. 
Beatrix of Bui-gundy, 895, 408.. 
Beatrix of Castile, 577. 
Beatrix of Ilohenstaufen, 395. 
Beatrix of Provence, 318, 502. 
Beauchamps lamily, 438. 
Bcaudricourt, Knight, 486. 
Beauforts. family, 433. 
Beaumanoir, Counts of, 470. 
Beaumont faction in Navarra, 601. 
Beda, the Venerable, 101, 284. 
Bedawins (Saracens). 20O. 
Behetria in Castile, 589. 
Bela II, King of Hungary, 561. 
Bela IV. of Hungary, .555. 
Belezitaa Bulgarians, 269. 
Belisarins, 12-3, 184, 139. 
Belo-Chrovats, 192. 

Benedictine Order in the North, 282, 293. 
Beni Alaftas of Badajoz, 334, 574. 
Beniamin of Tiidela, 262. 
Berberi, 97. 833. 

Berengario, Marquis of Frinii, 251. 
Bereny, Magyar family, 562. . 
Beringer of Landenberg, 548. 
Bermudo III., King of Leon, 258. 
Bernard, King of Italy, 189. 
Bernli.ird of Anhalt, 536. 
Bernhard. Margrave of Baden, 588. 
Bertiiold IV. of Ziihringen, 549, 
Bertrand du Gueselin. Constable of France, 

470, 592. 
Bianca of Lancia, 895, 424. 
Biunchi (Whites) of Florence. 416, 420. 
BiiirJce-Miud (dirge of King Eegnar), 190. 
Bjarne Herulfson, 224. 
Bibars I. Bendocdar. 344, 346, 364. 
Bilain, or serfs in Wales, 432. 
BjTn Ironside, King of Sweden, 190, 222. 
B'irger, King of Swe'den, 301, 440. 
Birger Iarl,'22.5, 301. 
Birkehener (Bark-logs), Norwegian vvar- 

rior.s, 296. 
Black Agnes, Conntess of March, 486. 
BlaeL Cavidry of Bohemia, 572. 
Black-mail levied in the Lowlands, 286. 
Black Nuns of Saint Benedict, .at Bethany, 

840. 
Black-rent in Ireland, 429. 
Blanche of Aragon, GOl. 
Blanche of Bourbon, Queen of Castile, 591. 
Boccaccio, 606. 
Boccanera familv, 610. 
Bonder (free landholders), 222, 292. 
Bo 'thins, senator, 180. 
Bogomiles, Bulgarian sectarians, 867, 565. 
Bohemund, Prince of Antioeh, 236, 324, 

325, 327, 385, 346. 
Bohuns of Wales, 432. 
Boian, Eussian poet, 304. 
Boii (Bojoarii) or Bavarians, 81. 
Boistlaf '(Stephen), Krai of Servia, 196. 
Boleslav Chobry, King of Poland, 25(1, 

309, 312. 
Boleslav IL of Poland, .313. 
Boleslav III. of Poland, 313. 
Boleslav V. of Poland, 450. 
Boniface Geremei, 410. 
Boniface of Montferrat, 3.51, 413. 
Boniface VIII., Pope, 409, 613. 
Boniface of Verona, the Italian knight, 356. 
I Bonifaeius, Marprave of Tuscany, 811 



216 



HISTOEIGAL INDEX. 



Border Knighthood in Scotland and Eng- 
land, 2S6. 

Borkeiarok, Sultan, 34G. 

liorrell, Count of Barcelona, 229. 

Borussi (ancient Prussians), 91, 192, 227, 
37T, 3T9. 

Bosniaks, 5C5. 

Boson, King of Burgundy, 246. 

Botoniates, Byzantine general, 325. 

Boucicaut, Marslial of, 478. 

Bourbon dynasty, 499. 

Bourbon-Montpensier dynasty, 501. 

Bourgeoisie of France, 306. 

Boxoer-Thane (chamberlain), 290. 

Boyards, Sclavonian nobles, 226, 567. 

, senators of Novgorod, 304. 

Braccio da Montone, tlic Condottiere, 606 
614, 616. 

Brahmins of Hindoostan, 275. 

Bveyr (freemen) in Wales, 432. 

Breiiin (king) of Wales, 482. 

Brian Born, Ardriagh of Ireland, 2S3. 

Britons, 73, 103, 157. 

Brittany, dynasty of, 504. 

Bruces of Scotland, 2S3, 2S7 

Bructeri, Frankish tribe, 80. 

Brunelleschi, Architect, 416. 

Bruno, Archbishop of Cologne, 248. 

Bryennius, Byzantine general, 325. 

B rgermeister^ 402. 

Biija-Ben-Shetsa, the flsherman of Dilem, 
277. 

Bueislaus X. of Pomerania, 535. 

Buid dynasty, 277, 320. 

BovKeWdpiOi, Greek army sutlers, 265. 

Bulat-Zospon, tribe of the Petoheneges, 254. 

Bulgarians, 93, 149,195. 
Black, 108. 

White (Woloehs), 108. 
Kamic, 304. 

Bulgarians in Hungary, 560. 

Bulgarian Colonies on Mount Amanus, 266. 

Bulgaro-Servian Tribes, 560. 

Buondelmonti, Florentine nobles, 416. 

Burdariotie, Bulgarian tribe, 269. 

Burghesses of the towns, 290, 247. 

Burgundians, 81, 119. 145. 

Burgundy, younger dynasty of, 495. 

Biircliard, Cuke of Souabia, 250. 

Bureau (.Jean ), Master of Artillery, 487, 493. 

Butlers of Tipperary, 430. 

Byzatits (golden coin), 261, 350, 



C. 



Cade (John), the Eebel, 4.34. 

Caldora, the Condottiere, 614. 

Caisar Bardas, 273. 

(.'.aledonians (Scots). 101. 

Calmarian Union, 426, 438. 

Calo-Johanncs Comneuus, emperor, 325, 

351. 
Caloprini, Family of, 323. 
Cali.vtus II., Pope, 309. 
Campbells, Clan of the, 286, 435. 
Campobasso, Count, the traitor, 509. 
Cavjimiy, or Irish Cb^ef, 100, 141, 219. 
Cantelmas, French feudatories in Naples, 

614. 
Cantabri, see Basques. 
Canute, see Knud, King of Denmark, 221, 

2S2, 293. 
Capetian dynasty, 230. 
Capistran, tlie Monk, 566. 
CcipiUduna, Laws of the Carlovingians, 

167. 
Caracilla, Emperor, 81. 
Carloman, King of Nenstria, 154. 
C.arlovingian dynasty, 154. 
Carlo Zeno, Admiral. 6ii8. 
Carlos de Viana, 596, 597, 601, 602. 
Carmagnola (Francisco), the Condottiere, 

606. 
Can-ara, dynasty of Padua, 414, 607. 
diirroucio (banner chariot), 406. 
Casimir IV., King of Poland, see Kasimir. 
Cassiodorus Senator, 127, 133. 
Cdntello Nuovo at Naples, 614. 
Castilian State Ofticors, 589. 
Cantra Stcitiva of the Komans, 71, 
Castros Family in Portugal, 584. 

in Castile, 590. 
Castrucoio Castracani, Lord of Lucca, 419, 

420, 612. 
Catalan Freebooters, 326, 355, 373, 594, 

620, 625. 
Ctitapans, Greek Governors, 252, 270, 271, 

321. 
Catheiina Cornara of Cyprus, 350. 
Catherine of Fiance, 468. 
Catherine of Poland, 555. 
Catherine de Vendjme, 499. 
Catti (Hessians), 80. 
Caurisini, Banking-house, 433. 
GavaUeiros of Portugal, 578. 
CavuUeiros Villden, 578. 
Cavalry combat of Doryteum. 327. 

of Arsuf 342. 
Celts, 77. 

Centenarii, in Hungary, 314. 
Cent-ffrafen, 118. 

Ceoris (Churls), single Freemen. 299. 
Cerdic, the Saxon, iii4. 
Clialil, Maniluke sultan, 365. 
Chalons, House of, ."116. 
Chainp de Mars of the Franks, 118. 
Chamavi (Franks), 80. 
Chandos Family, 433. 
Charatch, Arabian poll-tax, 274. 
CnAULEMAGNK, 51, 154, 157, 162, 167—189, 

190,257,218,223. 
Charies, of Germany, Son of Cliarlemagne, 

1S9. 
Charles, the Bald, Emperor, 228, 246. 
Charles le Bel, 469. 
Charles Ic Gihicreux, 6(11. 
Charles le Gros, Emperor, 22S, 2.M, 



Charles Knudson. Administrator of Swe- 
den, .438. 
Charles II,, the Lame, of Naples, 6U. 
Charles Martel, Mayor DomCs, 154, 15S, 

190, 197. 
Charles Martel of Hungary, 555. 
Charles le Mauvais of Navarra, 461, 601. 
Charles the Simple, 246. 
Charles Kobert, King of Hungary, 555, 562. 
Charles of Valois, 461. _ 

Charles IV., Emperor, 246, 51T, 606. 
Charles V., Emperor, 454, 623, 642, 643. 
Charies Y., King of France," 494. 
Charles VI., of France, 467. 
Charles VII., of France, 587. 
Charles VHI., King of France, 50S. 
i harles, Count of Angouleme, 494. 
Charles I., of Anjou, 318, 423, 502, 614. 
Charles I., Margrave of Baden, 538. 
Charies, Duke of Berry, 508. 
Charies of Blois, 470. 
Charles de Boui'bon, Constable of France, 

499. 
Charles of Orieans, 492, 494. 
Charles, the Eash, of Burgundy, 495, 497, 

503, 508, 509. 
Charibert I., King of Paris, 145. 
Charibert II., 146. 
Chariias, Byzantine general, 266. 
XapnaTiKoi', Byzantine stamp duties, 262, 
Chazars (Guzzari). 90, 193. 
Checks (Czechs), 188. 
Chiaramontesi in Sicily, 599. 
Child Eaters (Kumanian), 315. 
Childebert I., 113, 145. 
C^hildebert II., 145. 
Childeric, 114. 

Chilperic I.. King of Sois,sons, 145. 
Chivalrous Societies in Germany, 528. 540, 

644. 
Chlodomir, 11.3, 116, 145. 
Chlothaire I.. 113, 145. 
Chlothaire II., 145, 154. 
Chlotilda, wife of Clovis, 119. 
Chosroes I., 96, 194. 
Christian I., of Denmark, 300, 440, 444. 
Christian II., the Tyrant, 438. 
Christian, Archbishop of Mainz, 422. 
Christian Pilgrims, 308. 
Christopher Columbus, 591. 
Christopher, Duke of Baden, 358. 
Christopher of Bavaria, 438. 
Christopher, Prince of Denmark, 545. 
Christopher III., King of Denmark, 378. 
Chrovvats (Croats), 107, 187, 260, 616. 
Chrvsocheir, Paulician General, 266. 
Chudes (Finns), 89, 305, 442. 
Chuni (Kumans.) 315. 

Chunni (Huns), 89. 

Cimmerians (Cimbri), 77. 

Circassian Mamlukes, 258. 

Clan Donells of Connaught, 4S0. 

Clara of Zaach, 562. 

Clares of Wales, 432. 

Claude of France, 494. 

Clans Yon der Fide, the liermit, 552. 

Clement VI, Pope, 502, 543. 

Clementia of Habsburg, 555. 

Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, 3S. 

Clermonts, French nobles in Naples, 614. 

Clifford family in Westmoreland, 431, 

Clisson, Counts of, 47C, 

Clovis the Frank, 71, 109. 

Colonnesi, Eoman family, 613. 

Comes Orientis, 15. 

Comes Palatinus {Pfalzgraf), 167. 

Comes StabvU (Constable), 296. 

Commines (Philip de), the historian, 825. 

Common Freemen in Hungary, 314. 

Comtnunes of France, 307. 

Comnenian dynasty, 27.3. 

Compagnies des Ordonnances, 508. 

Consiglio di Credema, 406. 

Conditionarii of Hunsarv, 314. 

Condottieri (Italian), 320.'606, 609, 614. 

Confrerie or Parisian Hansc, 454 

Connetable of Armenia, 349. 

(Donrad of Montferrat, 413. 

Conrad, King of Burgundy, 246. 

Conrad, of Cologne, 404. 

Conrad, I., of Franconia, 247, 249, 250. 

Conrad, III., of Germany, 895. 

Conrad, IV., Emperor, 395. 

Conrad, Duke of Mazovia, 379. 

Conrad, Marquis of Montferrat, 864. 

Conrad, Duke of Souabiii, 395. 

Conradino of Hohenstaufen, 395, 423, 424, 
614. 

Constance of Aragon, 395, 598. 

Constance of Hohenstaufen, 895, 598, 

Constance of Naples', 39.'5. 

Constantine Manasses, the historian, 367. 

Constantino the Great, 7. 

Constantine, Emperor, 325. 

Constantine the African, professor at Sa- 
lerno, 822. 

Constantinus VII., Porphyrogennitn.s, Em- 
peror, 253, 27-3. 

Constitution of Conrad II. 809. 

Conti, Eoman family, 613. 

Copernicus the Astronomer, 4^19. 

Correggio, dynasty of, 611, 

Corrado Doria, 417. 

Corregidores in Portugal, 578. 

Cortes of Aragon, 595. 
CasHle, 590. 
Navarra. 601. 
Portugal, 578. 

Cosmo de' Medici, 612. 

Cossacks of the Don, 451. 

Cottlus, King of the Gauls, 51. 

Count Palatine of Hungary, 314. 

Count I'eej-a of Champ.igne, 4S9. 

<7o«nteof Castile, .689. 

Cotirs des horgcs in Palestine, 348. 

Cours <?,' Amour in Provence, 319. 

CoutoK. Knights' fiefs. .678. 

('outitdiOM family, 5S,i. 



Crawfords, Highland clan, 485. 

Credenza di Sant' Ambrogio, 414. 

Creoda (Cridda) the hero, 143. 

Crescentius, the Consul, 262. 

Crispo (Francesco). Duke of Naxos, 361. 

Crispi, dynasty of the, 361, 622. 

Cuno of Babenberg, 549, 

C'/'o, the old Scottish compensation for 
manslaughter, 288. 

Croats in Hungary, 660. 

Cnjic inscriptions^ 222, 460. 

Culdees, Monks, 100. 

Cumani, see Kumani. 

C'U7nrick (Irish safeguard), 429. 

Cures, fishermen in Prnssia, 379. 

Cziria, Castilian court, 589. 

Cyning (King), hereditary among the An- 
glo-Saxons, 29;i. 

Cypriote women, 350. 

Cyrus, the Persian King, 211, 326. 

Cyrillus, Greek Missionary, 195. 

Czar of all the Eussias, 456. 
of SerTia, 567. 

Czekho-Slovaks, 107, 250. 



D. 



Daci for Dani panes), 107. 

Daco-Eomans, 661, 670. 

Dagobert I., King of the Franks, 145, 154. 

Dai, or Mohammedan reformer, 304. 

Dais-al-Kebir, 364. 

Dalecarlians, 438, 440. 

Dalle Career!, dynasty of, 361. 

Niccold, Duke of Naxos, 361. 

Dalriads, Gaelic ti-ibe, 284. 

Dan, 82. 

Dana- Gelt, tribute of the Anglo-Saxons, 
289. 

Danburys family, 433. 

Dandolo, Venetian family, 351, 359. 

Da7ieliroff, national banner of Denmark, 
292, 377. 

Danish Crusaders, 327. 

Dano-German invaders in Britain, 143. 

Dan Mykilati, 85. 

Danske, Daner (Danes), 85. 

Dante Alighieri, the great Florentine, 416, 
420, 606. 

Danubian Sclavi, 660. 

Darius Codomanus, King of Persia. 210. 

David, I., Kins: of Scotland, 286, 485. 

David, II., Bruce, King of Scotland, 435. 

David Comneuus of Trebizond, 351, 374. 

David, Grand Comnenus, last Emperor of 
Trebizond, 626. 

David, Count, of Huntingdon, 435. 

David Stuart, Duke of Eothsay, 4.35. 

Decani, in Hungary, 314. 

Degene, Thanes, chiefs 162. 

Delendi, family of Santorini, 622. 

De I'Eteudard, French feudatories in Na- 
ples, 614. 

Delia Scala, dynasty of Verona, 414, 607 

Delia Torre, dynasty of Milan, 606. 

Demetrius, Palieologus, 625. 

Dengish, son of Attila, 109. 

Deodat de Gozon, Knight of Ehodes, 623. 

Dermod McMorchad, King of Leinster, 283. 

Desiderius, King of the Lombards, 166. 

Despots of the Morea, 368. 
of Epirus, 360. 

Deidsches Haus (convent of the Teutonic 
Knights), at Jerusalem, 339, at Marien- 
burg (Prussia), 382. 

Deutsuh meister. Grandmaster of the Teu- 
tonic Order, 453. 

Deutschritter (Knights of Saint Mary). 
381, 883. 

Devorgild, of Galloway, 485. 

Diamy, the Persian poet, 277. 

Diego, Duke of Viseu, 579. 

DjeTah-ed-Din, Khowaresmian Prince 276, 
386. 

Diezman of Thiiringia, 395, 519. 

Dilemid (Ziad), dynasty, 277. 

Dimitrl IV., Donskoi, 456. 

Diniz, King of Portugal, 577, 578. 

Dinner, in Poland, 313. 

Disc-Thcsgn (Seneschal), 290. 

Disdain or court-offlcers in Wales, 432. 

Dismemberment of the Arabian Empire, 
274. 

Dismemberment of the Carlovingian Em- 
pire, 228. 

Ditmar of Merceburg, 226. 

Doges (Dukes; of Venice, 272. 

Dokak, the Ortokid, 830. 

Dolce, heiress of Provence, 31S. 

Dombrowka, Bohemi.an princess. 259. 

Donati, Florentine nobles, 416. 

Doomsday Book, 266, 291, 378. 

Doria, faudly, 610. 

Douglasses of Liddesdale, 435. 
of Teviotdale, 285. 

Dragon-ships, of the Northmen, 291, 292. 

Dragosh, Drakul, Prince of Moldavia. 570. 

ApaKofT(io(p6poi, Byzantine ensigns, 262. 

Drenge (shield boys) on the Welsh bor- 
ders, 290. 

Drogo of Hautevillo, 321, 236. 

ApofJ-oKS, Byzantine galleys, 262. 

Drost, Marshal of Sweden, 301. 

Drottav, Swedish Chiefs, 190. 

Apovy-ydptoi, Byzantine staff officers, 262. 

Druses, Heretical sect on Mount Lebanon, 
75, 345. 

Drusus (Claudius), Eoman general, 75. 

Dshanbar. tlie fanatic reformer, 834. 

Dschein (Ziziini. Tnrki-h prince 627. 

Dshingi=-Khan, the Mongol conqueror, 270, 
885. 627, 636, 

Duarte I. of Portugal, 679. 

Ducal Court at Athens, 855. 

Duces (Eoman Dukes), 5. 

Duces Limitis (Border Counts), 170. 

Dunhf. Pairee (Ducal Peerage), 499. 



Dunois the Bastard, 49u. 

Dutch Colonies in Hungary, 661. 

Ditx Venetioi et Dalmatian, 272, 

E. 

Eadric the Traitor, 28!; . 

Eadmuud Ironside, the Saxon, 289. 

Saldormen, 221, 290. 

i:arls, 221. 

Eberhard,' Duke of Franconia, 248. 

Eberhard, Count of Wurtemberg, 528, 544. 

Ebn-Ynes, Arab astronomer, 280. 

Eccelino of Eomano, 414. 

Edda, Icelandic Poems, 815. 

Edgar, King of England, 290. 

Edgar jEtheling, the Saxon, 286. 

Edmund Baliol, the Pretender, 435. 

Edward Bruce, 288, 436. 

Edward the Confessor, 291, 292, 298, 4-34. 

Edward I., King of England, 435. 

Edward II. of England, 283. 

Edward lU. of England, 432.461. 

Edward of Wales, the Black Prince, 464, 

472, 592. 
Edward IV. of York, 434. ' 
Edris-Ben-Edris, 214. 
Edrissid dynasty, 198, 214. 
Egbert, King of England, 221. 
Eginbard, 156, 191. 

Eisths (Esthonians), a Finnic Tribe, 91, 805. 
El-Campeador. See El-Cid. 
El-Canes, Turkish Emir. 827. 
El-Cid (Don Eodrigo de Bivar). 316, 320, 

334. . - . 

Eleanor of Castile. Queen of Aragon, 596. 

Eleanor, Queen of England, 886. 

Eleanor of Foix. 601. 

Eleanor of Poitou, 482. 

Eleulheri, in Cyprus, 350. 

Elizabeth of Bavaria, 395, 424. 

Elisabeth of Bosnia, 555. 

Elisabeth of Hungary, 558. 

Elizabeth of Luxemburg-Gorlitz, 497. 

Ella, King of Northumberland, 190. 

Ellac, son of Attila. ]09i. 

Emah-ed-Din-Zeiighi, 8-30. 

Emed-ed-Daula, the Buid, 274. 

Emir-al-Munxenim. 274. 

Emir-el- Mosleniin in Morocco, 334. 

Emir-al-Omrah, 274. 

Empedocles, Byzantine general, 259. 

English Missionaries, 282. 

Eiiriqueces, femily in Castile, 590. 

Enrico Dandolo. Doge of Venice, 351. 

Enzius, King of Sardinia, 895, 410. 

Era of Bevival, 426. 

Eric Plougpenning, King of Denmark, 294, 
378. 

Eric of Pomerania, 488, 439. 

Eric the Bed, the discoverer of America, 
224. 

Eric, Prince of Sweden, 440. 

Eric SIV. King of Sweden, 454. 

Erichtonians of Lorraine, 896. 

Erdiidy fiiniily, 562. 

Ernest Iron-heart, 523. 

Ernestine dynasty of Saxony, 518. 

Ertoghrul, the Tartar, 627. 

Erwin Steinbach, the Architect, 639. 

Escudeiros-Fidalgos, 678. 

Escutcheo7i of Portugal, 577. 

Este dynasty of Ferrara, 414, 606, 611. 

Estyi (Esthonians), 91, 805. 

j&tats generaux in France, 426. 

Eugene III., Pope, 406. 

Eugenius, the Magister Officiorum, 52. 

EwoiJX'" irpwToipaKTai, (choristers), 262. 

Enric, King of tlie Visigoths, 123. 

Eustache Saint-Pierre of Calais, 474, 

Eustache, the Crusader, brother of God- 
frey of Bouillon. 327. 

Eyubid dynasty, 328. 

Ezeritte. Sclavonian tribe in the Morea, 196, 
269, 3b8. 

"EJapxof (Greek viceroy of Italy), 153. 

Exton (Sir Piers), the King's murderer, 434. 



Fadriciue II. of Trinacria, 599, 620. 
Fadrique III. of Trinacria, 599, 620. 
Fadrique of Eandazzo, titular duke of 

Athens, 020. 
Fadrique, Grand Master of Calatra\'a, 591. 
Fa.iardof, family in Murcia, >69(). 
Falones. See Kumani. 
Falstaff (Sir John), 479. 
Fanaticism of the Assassins, 864. 
Farinata degli Uberti. 416. 
Fatimid dvnasty, 259, 280; 
Febrer the Poet, 696. 
Fedavies, Initiated Assassins. 864. 
Fehm-Gerichte, Free Courts in West- 
phalia, 543. 
Feir-Emir, the ai-morer of Antioch, 346. 
Felician of Zaach. 662. 
Fellahs of Egypt, 365. 
Ferdusi, the Persian poet, 275. 
Fergus, King of the Scots, 101. 
Fernando I., King of Castile, 255. 316. 
Fernando II., King of Castile, 817. 
Fernando III., el Santo, King of Castile 

andLeon, 316, 587, 591. 
Fernando II. of Leon, 316. 
Fernando Y. el Catolico of Aragon, 318. 
Fernando, Count of Castile, 255. 
Fernando, o Principe Constante, 583. 
Ferguesons, clan of the, 286. 
Feudal System in 

Aragon, 255. 819, 595, 596. 

Armenia, 349. 

Castile, 589,590, 595, 

Denmark, 29 i. 

England, 291. 

France, 11.«, 167. 2S0, 



HISTORICAL INDEX. 



217 



Feudal System — continued. 

Germany, 248. 

Greece 355, 856. 

Hungary, 314, 

Italy, 252. 

Palestine, 24S. 

Portugal, 5TS. 

Scotland, 384. 

Sweden, 301. 
Feudum (Foe Odel), 118. 
Fiescbi family, 610. 
Fiimaith (Finns), 86, 302. 
Finnic tribes, 89, 226, 301, 302, 305. 

superstitions, 301. 
Fitzgeralds in Kildare, 480. 
Fitz-Stephens of Coric, 430. 
Flavius, Constantius Florus, 73. 
Flemisli Crusaders, 337. 
Fiorina of Burgundy, 327. 
Floiinx, gold coin of Florence, 416. 
Foederati, Gothic mercenaries, see WarUgs. 
Foged, chief judge, 437. 
Folgoth (royal retinue). 290. . 
Folkungar, dynasty of, 225, 439. 
Fools' Fraternity in Cleves, 531. 
Foral^ court-house, 578. 
Forties (or rights) of Portuguese cities, 578. 
Fossados. military expeditions, 578. 
Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, 414, 608, 

609. 
Francis I., King of France, 494 
Francis Coronello, Governor of Naxos, 622. 
Francis Phoebus of Beam, King of Navar- 

ra, 601. 
Francs-Archers^ 508. 
Frangipani (Giovanni), Count, the betrayer 

of Conradino, 422. 
Frank Acciajuoli, Duke of Athens, 020, 

634. 
Franks, 75, 80. 

Fratres JIUiticB Templi (Knights Tem- 
plars), 389. 
Frazers, Clan of the, 286. 
Frederic of Anspach, 424 
Frederic Barbarossa, emperor, 849, 395, 

408,411. 
Frederic the Bitten, 395, 519. 
Frederic of Buren, 310, 395. 
Frederic II., emperor, 388, 339, 394, 395, 

414, 423, 424 
Frederic the Handsome, 523. 
Frederic, Count of Hohenzollern, 517. 
Frederic III., emperor, 495. 
Frederic the Mild, 518. 
Frederic IV., Burgrave of NQrnberg, 541. 
Frederic V., elector-palatine, 520. 
Frederic, Duke of Souabia, 395. 
Frederic the Warlike, 518. 
Frederic VII., King of Denmark, 298. 
Fredesenda of Hauteville, 321. 
Free Communes of France, 807, 425. 
Freia, the Scandinavian goddess, 82. 
French Chivalry in Greece, 355, 356, 358. 
Frigga, Scandinavian goddess, 82. 
Frigmen (churls), single freemen, 290. 
Frisians (Frisii), SO, 105. 
Frithhoth, 221. 

Frode, the Norwegi.in rover, 219. 
Froissard, the chronicler, 325. 
FrostatlUng, Code of Trondhjem, 297. 
Fulcoof An.jou, 338. 
Fyenboer, 293. 



G. 



Gabrielli dynasty of Gubbio, 613. 

Gielic (Celtic) Scots, 101, 219. 

Galeazzo Sforza, Duke of Milan, 609. 

Gallo-Eomans (Aquitanians), 154. 

Garcias VI., Kamirez of Navarra, 81S, 601. 

Garcias the ambassador, 600. 

Garcias Arista, first King of Navarra, 257. 

Gardar the Dane, 224 

Gardi7igi, Visigoth body-guards, 125. 

Gastiddi (Castellans), 152. 

Gaston IV., Count of Fois, 480. 

Gatelusii, lords of Lesbos, 622. 

Gau-Grafen, 230, 247. 

Gaultier-Sans-Avoir, 808. 

Gan- Verfassung, Constitution of the Car- 

lovingian territories, 170, 230, 247. 
Gavala, Genoese family of, 862. 
Gaveston, the minion, 434. 
Gaya Ciema of the Troubadours, 319. 
Geburs (Anglo-Saxon peasantry), 290. 
Gens d'Armes of France, 508. 
George Podiebrad of Bohemia, 514. 
Geisa, King of Hungary, 253, 561. 
Gelimer the Vandal, 140. 
Genghis-Ch.in. See Dshingis-Chan. 
Genseric the Vandal, CO, 134. 
Geoffrey de Villehardoin, Pilnce of Achaia, 

356. 
Geoffrey II., Prince of Achaia, 358. 
George Castriota, Prince of Albania, 618, 

624, 635. 
George of Servia, 569. 
Gepida;, Gothic nation, 75, 80, 109, 133. 
Gerald of Kildare, 429. 
Gerardo Giraldes, 577. 
Gerhard of Mainz, 404. 
Gerhard (Geert), Count of Holstein, 878, 

444. 
Gerhard, Count of Eendsburg, 444. 
German colonies in Prussia, 879. 

in Poland, 381, 447. 
" " in Hungary, 881, 555, 561 

German Franks (Austrasians), 154, 247. 
Germanicus Coesar, 75. 
Gertrude of Supplingenburg, 390, 
Gesalic, son of Alaric II., 124. 
Gespnnnschnften, or Counties of Hixnga- 

rv 253 557 
Ghasnavid dynasty, 276, 326 
Ghassanids of Edom, 200. 
(iliedymin, Grand Duke of Lithuania, 384. 
(ilieldrian line of Nassau, 537. 



Gherardeschi dynasty in Tuscana, 415. 
Ghibellines, 397. 
Ghisi, family of the, 359, 371. 
Ghorid dynasty, 275, 826. 

Ghuilat, Mohammedan sectarians, 278. 

Giacomo IV. Crisiio, Duke of Naxos, 622. 

Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan, 
494 

Giazi-Chopon, Petchenegian tribe, 254. 

Gickers, banditti of Lahore, 275. 

Gilbert, Count of Provence, 818. 

Ginetes. light cavalry in Castile. 589. 

Giovanna I'., Qneen of Naples, 555, 614. 615. 

Giovanna II., Queen of Naples, 614, 615. 

Giraldi family on Naxos, 022. 

Giovanni Gualberto, 420. 

Giovanni V., Crispo, Duke of Naxos, 622. 

Giustiniani, family of the, 359, 610, 622. 

Godar^ heathen priests in Denmark, 298. 

Godfred, King of .Jutland, 190. 

Godfrey of Bouillon, 308, 310, 814, 327, 385. 

Godfrey of Hauteville, 321. 

Golden Bull of Charles IV., 513. 

Golden Bull of Andreas II., 555. 

Golden Horde of Kaptchak, 385, 465. 

Gomez (Don), founder of the Order of Al- 
cantara, 817. 

Gondemar, King of Burgundy, 119. 

Gonfalonieri, 410. 

(lontran. King of Orleans, 145, 148. 

Gonsalez Zarco, 586. 

(Jonzaga dynasty of Mantua, 414, Oil. 

Gordons, clan of the, 286. 

Gorm the Old, King of united Denmark, 
190, 222, 292. 

Gorm, Prince of Denmark, 226. 

Gonti, Kussiiin officials, 226. 

Gothi Tetraxitse, in Crimea, 92. 

Gottschalk, the crusading Priest, 314. 

Gottschalk, the Vendic chief, 295. 

Gournay, the King's slayer, 484. 

Grofen (Counts), 79, 118, 230, 247. 

Graham (Sir Eobert), the regicide, 486. 

Gran corte, high tribunal at Naples, 614. 

Grand Comnenian dynasty of Trebizond, 
863, 374, 026. 

Grand Co^ipany of Sluggards {les Tard- 
venus), 469. 

Grand Company of the Catalans and Al- 
mugavars in Greece, 855, 594 620, 632. 

Grandsjours in Lorraine, 529. 

Grants, clan of the, 286. 

Graa-Gaas (Gray goose) the Code of Ice- 
land, 298. 

Gran us, Eoman governor in Gaul, 171. 

Grays of Wales, 432. 

Grays of Wexford, 430. 

Great Chans of the Magyars, 253. 

(xreat feudatories in France, 463. 

Great Zupans of Servia, 368. 

Gregory, Archbishop of Tours, 390. 

Gregory VII., the great Pope, 252, 309. 

Griffith, Prince of Wales, 292. 

Grimaldi family, 610, 622. 

Grimoaldus, Duke of BeneTentum, 186. 

Guelfo of Tuscany, 396. 

Guelfo of Este, 396. 

Guelfo IV. Duke of Bavaria, 896. 

Guelli, 396. 397, 407. 

Guegnes, (Bed Albanians), 624. 

Guelfic (Confederacy of Tuscany, 415. 

Guide da Montefeltro, 410. 

(Juidi, Counts in the Casentino, 415, 416. 

Guilds in Denmark, 292, 295. 
in England, 290, 291. 
in Norway, 296. 

Guillen de Vinatea. 595. 

(Juimar, Prince of Salerno, 321. 

Gaizot the historian, 307. 

Gulathing, Code of Bergen, 297. 

Gundus-Alp, the Turk, 527. 

Gunhilde, Princess of Denmark, 289. 

Guntoghdi the Turk, 627. 

Gustavus Vasa, King of Sweden, 488. 

Guthrum the Dane, 221. 

Gypsies in Hungary, 561. 

Guy de Chatillon, 494 

Guy of Lusign.an, King of Jerusalem, 343. 

Guy (Guide) of Lusignan, 338, 848. 

(Juy de la Eoche, Duke of Athens, 355. 

Guy IL of Athens, .355. 

Guy de Penthievre, 470. 

Guzmanes, family in Spain, 5, 90. 

Gyla, Pctcheneguo tribe, 254. 



H. 

Habsburg dynasty, 523. 

Hadji Geray of the Crimea, 638. 

Hadrian, emperor, 71, 73, 75. 

Hmrsers, royal officers in Norway, 296. 

Hafites^ Mohammedan students, 638. 

Haflz, the Persian poet, 277. 

Hagareans (Ismaelites), 200. 

Haireddin Barbarossa the Pirate, 622, 643. 

Hakim Beamrillah the Fatimid (ialiph, 280. 

846. 
Hakon the Good, King of Norway, 228. 
Hakon Jarl of Norway, 223. 
Hakon IV., King of Norway, 296, 437. 
Hakon VII., King of Norway, 298. 
Halfdan Swarte the Norwegian King, 223. 
Hamadanid dynasty, 278. 
Hammadid dynasty, 383. 
Eandsiva Lov, Code of South Western 

Norway, 297. 
Hannacks, Moravo-Sclavonian tribe, 516. 
Hannibal the Cartha£:inian, 51. 
Hanno, Archbishop of Cologne, 310. 
Hans, King of Denmark, 488. 
Hanseatic Confederacy, 304, 878, 403, 545. 
Harald Blaatand of Denmark, 222, 292. 
Harold Godwinson the Saxon, 291, 292, 

298. 
Harald Haardraade of Norway, 291. 
Harald Haarfagcr, Kins of Norway, 190, 

219. 



Harald Hildctrand, King of Denmark. 190. 
Harald Harefod of England, 292. 
Harald Kliik, King of Jutland, 222. 
Harclay (Sir Andrew), 484. 
Haros, family of Viscaya, 590. 
Haroun-ar-Easchid. 198. 218, 274. 
Hashem II. Caliph of Cordova, 255. 
Hashem IV., Ommyiad, Caliph of Cordova, 

258. 
Hashish (intoxicating beverage), 364. 
Hassan the son of AM, 279. 
Hassan Ben Sahab, the Assassin Prophet, 

864 
Hassan-Ben-Buiah, the warrior, 277. 
Hassan-Ben-el-Terath, the Arab chief, 259. 
Hassan the Zeirid, 333. 
Hastings, family in England, 433. 
Hastings in Ireland, 430. 
Hatsheshim. See Assassins. 
Haus-Comthure (Priors), 380. 
Hautecour of Jerusalem, 348. 
Hawkwood, English Condottiere, 606. 
Hay, family of, 287. 
Hay dukes in Hungary, 560, 563. 
Hedervar family, 562. 
Hedevig, Queen of Poland and Lithuania, 

888, 884, 555. 
Bedjra (fliL'ht), of Mohammed, 201. 
Heerhan (t>!udal army) of Germany, 247, 
of Charlemagne, 167. 

of the seven banners, 252. 
Reerineister of the Knights Swordbearers, 

380, 454 
Reims-Kringla, or chronicle of the Norse 

kings, 219, 296. 
Beldenbuch (Boot of Heroes), 77. 
Hellenes, 269. 
Heloisa, 392. 

Helvetian Confederacy, 548. 
Henrique II. of Castile, 587. 
Henrique, Count of Portugal, 574. 
Henrique, King of Portugal, 579. 
Henrique the Navigator, 582. 
Henry I., the Fowler, 222, 247, 249. 
Henry L of England, 291. 
Henry L, King of France, 306. 
Henry I., King of Navarra, 601. 
Henry II. of Plantagenet, 386. 
Henry II., emperor, 244. 
Henry II. of Lusignan, King of Cyprus, 

862. 
Henry III, King of England, 484. 
Henry IV., emperor, 252, 809. 
Henry IV. of Lancaster, King of England, 

483. 
Henry V., of England, 468. 
Henry V., emperor, 809. 
Henry VI. of Germany, 395. 
Henry VI. of Lancaster, 434. 
Henry VII., Tudor, 4.33, 434 
Henry VII. of Luxemburg, emperor, 416, 

606. 
Henry the Great of Burgundy, 239. 
Henry of Besancon, Count of Portugal. 316. 
Henry the Black, Duke of Bavaria, 896. 
Henry D.andolo, doge, 351. 
Henry of Hohenstaufen, 395. 
Henry, Count of Holstein, 444. 
Henry Percy, the Hotspur, 434. 
Henry the Lion, 377, 396. 
Henry the Proud, 896. 
Henry, Prince of Scotland, 485. 
Henry Sinclair, Count of Caithness, 487. 
Henry, King of Slavia, 296. 
Henry of Trastiimara, 587, 589, 592. 
Hephtalites (White Huns), 89. 
Heraclius, emperor, 194. 
Ueretog, Eerzog, duke, 79, 167, 290. 
Hergier, noble Swede. 222. 
Heribert, Archbishop of Milan, 405. 
Hernianfried, 120. 

Herman (Arminius), the German Hero, 
174 

Herman von Balk, Knight of the Teutonic 
Order, 379. 

Herman Gessler Of Bruneck, 548, 552. 

Herman von Salza, Grand Master, 379. 

Hermanric the Goth, 90. 

Hermit of Ourique, 577. 

Hermunduri, 81. 

Herod the Groat, 11. 

Berredage (national diets in Denmark), 
377. 

Herulf Hydefad, the rebel chief, 443. 

Heruli, 81, 90, 127, 133. 

Hestii (Estyi, Esthonians), a Finnic tribe, 
91, 805. 

Hhaddesi, Sedentary Arabs, 200. 

Hidalgos, (hijosde algo, Aragonese nobles), 
see Infanzones,595, 597. 

Highlanders of Scotland, 287. 

Himjarids in Arabia Felix, 200. 

Hiongnu (Huns), 89. 

Hirdmcend (royal court officers), 292, 
296. 

EirdsTcraa, Norwegian Code, 297. 

Hoch-Peutsche Sprache, (High German), 
77. 

Hohenlohe, house of, 399. 

Hohenstaufen, dynasty of, 310. 

Hohenzollern, house of, 399, 541. 

Homeirids in Yemen, 200. 

Homes, border clan, 436. 

Honorius III., pope, 395. 

Bonras, knights' tenures, 578. 

Horacks, Sclavonian tribe, 516. 

Horda-Knud of England, 292. 

Bordere (royal treasurer), 290. 

Borned Brotherhood of Hesse, 540. 

Horsa the Jute, 82. 

Borse Armor of the Saracens, 825. 

Borse-Thegn (Marshal), 290. 

Horvaths (Croats), in Hungary, 690. 

Bospites Teutonici in Transylvania, 561. 

Boxpital of Saint John the Almoner, at 
Jerusalem, 839. 

Hospitallers (Kniglits), 339, 856, 862. 

Hospodars of the Principalities, 570. 



Hossein, the Mohammedan Martyr,' 20T, 
279. 

Bousehold Troops of William the Con- 
queror, 291. 

Howards family, 488. 

Howards of Caterlagh, 430. 

Hugh de Brienne, Lord of Caritena, 358. 

Hugh Capet, King of France, 228, 230, 232, 
289, 24.5, sno. 

Hugh O'Eeilly. 429. 

Hugh of Vermandois, 80S. 

Hulagii, the Mongol, 2()7, 274, 864, 637. 

Bvlans of Poland, 448. 

Humbert HI. of'Savoy, 413. 

Humfrey de Hauteville, 321. 

Hungarians (Ugri), 93. 253. 314, 555, 560. 

Hunns, 89, 108, 149, 385, 686. 

Hunold, Duke of Aquitania, 183. 

Hunyadi dynasty, 562. 

Hurtado de Mendoza, the historian, 604. 

Husp (John), the reformer, 514, 515, 544. 

Bussars in Hungary, 572. 

Hussein the Ghorid, 275. 

Hussites of Bohemia, 514. 

Buvs-Katie, Eegular Army of King Ca- 
nute, 289. 

Buns-Thing (municipal assembly in Lon- 
don), 291. 

Hyrcanians, 277. 



I. 



Iberian tribes on Mount Caucasus, 136. 

Icelandic Sagas, 223. 

Ibn Eoshd, the Arab Philosopher, 334. 

Ibrahim-Ebn-Aglab, 213 

Ida, the Firebrand, 148. 

Ida. King of Anglia, 104 

Iftikhar-ed-Daulah, Commander of Jeru 

salem, 882, 885. 
Ignez de Castro, 580, 581. 
Ignez Pires, 584. 

Igor the Brave, Prince of Sevcrsky, 304. 
'iKai/droi, Palatine troops of Byzantium, 

265. 
'lAapX"', Byzantine commandei'S of the 

cavalry, 263. 
II Chans of Persia, 637. 
Ildobrandeschi dynasty in Tuscany, 415. 
Image Worshippers, and 
Image Breakers, in the Byzantine Empire, 

261. 
Imam of the Assassins, 364. 
Imilda de' Lambertazzi, 410. 
Indo-Germanic race, 77. 
Indulf; King of the Scots, 220, 
In/ancoes of Portugal, 578. 
Infanzones. Hid.algos in Aragon, 595. 
Ingolf the Norwegian, 224. 
Ingulf, King of Scotland, 292. 
Innocent III., pope, 356, 37T, 421. 
Irene, Empress of Constantinople. 895. 
Irnerius, law doctor of Bologna, 410. 
Iron Henry', Count Holstein, 878. 
Isaak Angelus, emperor, 351. 
Isaak Comnenus of Cyprus, 350. 
Isabel, Queen of Castile, 318, 592. 
Isabel of England, 895, 4-34, 
Isabel of France, 471. 
Isabel of Huntingdon, 435. 
Isabel of Lorraine, 508. 
Isabella, Princess of Achaia, 856, 621. 
Isabella Eomee, 486. 
Ismael, the Samanid, 275, 
Ismael-Ebn-Djafei', the Arabian Psendo 

Prophet, 279. 
Ismael Sophi, the Persian fanatic, 681. 
Ismailiyeh (Iinaolites) see Assassins, 279, 

364 
Isoun-Hassan the Turkoman chief, 631. 
Ivan I., Kalita, 442, 457. 
Ivan W.asiliewitch IL. 454, 638. 
Ivan III., the Great, 456. 
Iveta, abbess. 340. 



Jacob of Metz, 404. 

Jacobites, 346. 

Jacobus de Porta Eavennate, 410. 

Jacqueline of Ilainaut, 497. 

Jacquerie of France, 807, 484. 

Jacques d'Are, 486. 

Jacques van Artevelde, 467. 

Jacques de Bourbon, Count of La Marche, 
499. 

Jacques de Bourbon, ConnStable, 469. 

Jacques IL, Count of La Marche, 499. 

Jagellon, Duke of Lithuania, 383, 384 

Jagellon dynasty, 446. 

James, Duke of Baden, 588. 

James, Count of La Marche, 480. 

James I., Stuart, King of Scotland, 485. 

James II., Stuart, King of Scotland, 4S5, 
436. 

James III., Stuart, King of Scotland, 800. 

James IV., Stuart, King of Scotland, 436. 

James V., Stuart, King of Scotland, 436. 

Jane of France, 461. 601. 

Janissaries, 627, 630. 

Jansen (Charles), abbot of Thingcjre Mo- 
nastery, 296. 

Jarler (Earls), 222, 223, 292, 296. 

Jayme I., King of Aragon, 820, 598, 599. 

Jayme I., King of Majorca, 598. 

Jayme II. , King of Majorca, 465. 598. 

Jayme II., King of Aragon and Sicily, 599. 

Jayme Eoig, the Troubadour, 596. 

Jayme, Eegent of Sicily, 620. 

Jean d' Albret, King of Navarra, 601. 

Jean, Duke of Brabant, 497. 

Jean de la Marclie, 499. 

Jean Thierry, Marquis of Namur, 496. 

Jeanne of France, 461, 601. 

Jerome of Prague, 514, 544. 

Jews, Arabic mint-masters, 274. 



218 



HISTORICAL INDEX. 



Jews in Hungary, 5G1. 

Jews ia Poland, 447. 

Joachim Ernst, Prince of Anhalt, 536. 

Joan of Arc, 479, 4S4. 

Joan of Bar, 488. 

Joan of Montfort, 470. 

Joan I., Queen of Naples, 502. 

Joan, the Pa[>ess, 252. 

Joan of Penthievre, 470. 

Joan of Somerset, Queen of Scotland, 435. 

Jo,io I., of Portugal. 579. 

Jo.ao II., of Portugal, 579. 

Joao III., of Rortngal, 579. 

Jtihanitza, King of IJulgaria, 568. 

Johannes I., Grand Comnenus, 374. 

John Michez, the Jew, Prince of Naxos, 

622. 
John Tzimisces, emperor, 261, 824 
John I., Albert, King of Poland, 446. 
John Sansterre, King of England, 386, 4.34. 
John 11., le Bon. King of France, 388, 464. 
John II., King of Bohemia, 455. 
John XII , pope, 251. 
John XXII., pope, 510, 600. 
John, Connt of Angouleme, 494 
John Baliol of Galloway, 432. 
John Baliol the Pretender, 435. 
John of Blois, 492. 
John the Bold, first Duke of Burgundy, 

388 
John III., Duke of Brittany. 470. 
John the Fearless, of Burgundy, 494, 495. 
John II., Duke of Calabria, 5ii8. 
John Comyn of Badenoch, 4.35. 
John Dukas, Despot of Great 'Wallachia, 

373. 
John Ilunyad of Hungary, 562. 
John, Duke of Jiillch-Cleves-Berg, 522. 
John of Katavas, Eegent of Achaia, 621. 
John I., Duke of Lorraine, 529. 
Jolin McDougall of Lorn, 436. 
John of Monteith, the traitor, 435. 
John IV., of Montfort, 470. 
John I., Prince of Nassau, 537. 
John, Count Palatine, 521. 
John, lord of Passava, 358. 
John, Count of Penthievre, 470. 
John de la Eoche, Duke of Athens, 355. 
Jolm of Souabia, the Parricide, 552. 
John of Trocznow, 514. 
John Dukas Vatatzes, Emperor of Nieoea, 

870. 
Joinville famUy, iSd. 
■ ■ in Naples, 614. 

Jolante of Jerusalem, 895. 
Jimis Vlkingers, 223, 295. 
Jongleurs, at Athens, 355. 
Jorkel Knudson, Marshal of Sweden, 442. 
Jornandes, the historian, 85, 89, 102. 
Joscelyn, Count of Courtenay, 347. 
Juan Perez de Eobledo, 691. 
Juan IL, King of Castile, 581, 587, 601. 
Junnna of Navarra, 601. 
Judith of Bavaria, 395. 
Judith, Queen of the Franks, 228. 
Juices 1'denlieiros, 578. 
Julian the Apostate, 70, 71. 
Julian, Count, the Visigoth, 214. 
Julius Agricola, 73. 
Julius Caesar, 78, 240. 
Justiciar of Aragon, 596. 
Justinian L, emperor, 85, 137, 139, 140, 

262, 339, 346. 
Justinus I., emperor, 35. 
Jusuf-Emir, General governor of Anda- 

los, 215. 
Jydske Lov (Code of Jutland), 292. 

K. 

Kabus-Shemsil-al-Mali, the Dllemid sove- 
reign, 277. 

Kabyles, 97. 140, 646. 

Kadjars (Usbecks) on the Ciispian, 193. 

Kaissanie, Mohammedan sectarians, 279. 

Kallinikos, Byzantine engineer, 262. 

Kalmany (Coloman), King of Hungary, 
314, 66-3. 

Kalo-Johannes, emperor, 253. 

Kalo-Johannes, Grand Comnenos of Tre- 
bizond, 626. 

Kamic Bulgarians, 302, 460. 

Kangers, nobles among the Petcheueges, 
254 

Kanisa family, 562. 

KaimiKov, Byzantine house-tax, 262. 

Kapoly family, 562, 

Kara-Bei, 569. 

Kara-Koinlu, Black Horde of Turkomans, 
626, 634 

Karamathian Heretics, 274. 

Kara-Youlouk-Khan, the Turkoman chief, 
631. 

Karellans, 442. 

KaprC^ijUctSt? (eunuchs), 262. 

Kasac'hi, Turkish tribe, 226. 

Kasim-Bei, Karamanian Prince, 630. 

Kasimir the Great, 446, 562. 

Kasimir IV. of Poland, 383, 446. 

Katliars (Ketzer), 565. 

Kamefes, Moorish police, 215. 

Kegen, Chan of the Petcheneges, 254. 

KeJabid dyna.sty, 278. 

Kolawun, Mamluke Sultan, 345, 365. 

Kenneth II., King of United Scotland, 284 

Kenric, son of Cei-dic, 104 

Kers, Border clan, 436. 

Kcttler (Gotthard), first Duke of Courland, 
454. 

Key-soldiers of Saint Peter, 821. 

Khaled, Sword of God, 202. 

Khowaresmians, 338. 

Khowar&smid dynasty, 276, 326. 

Kiekawas (Mirror of Kings) of the Dile- 
mids, 277. 

Kilidj-Arslan, Sultan of Hum, 824, 827. 

KA6itroL'pap;^ai. Byziinlino border ward- 
ens, 263 



Kmetons, Polish peasantry, 250. 

Kiueses (nobles among the Sclavonians), 
107, 667. 

Knaves (squires) with military tenure, 290. 

Knights of Aviz, 579. 

Knig' ts of the Golden Fleece, 498. 

Knights of the Horse-eomh, 5-31. 

Knights ilosintaUers, 339, 341, 342, 343, 
850, 388, 561, 562, 579, 618, 623. 

Knights nf Saint Mary, 877, 879, 883, 543, 
569, 561. 

Knights of the Red Sleeves in Hassia, 540. 

Knights of the Rose-wreath in Cleves, 581. 

Knights Swordbearers in Livonia, 877, 
379, 880, 3S4 

Knights Templars, 258, 339, 340, 841, 342, 
343, 350, 883, 543. 

Knights of the Turnips in Hessen, 540. 

Knights of the Wing, of Saint Michael, 
579 

Knud the Great, 221, 282, 289, 291, 292. 

Knud IV. (Saint Canute), King of Den- 
mark, 298. 

Knud v., King of Denmark, 292. 

Knud Lavard (Lord), first Duke of South 
Jutland, 292. 

Koenig,Konge, King, 79, 167. 

KolokotroniB (Theodore) of Karitena, 358. 

Koloman (Calmany), King of Hungary, 260. 

Kongespeilet (King's Mirror) of Kiug 
Sverre, 297. 

Korbeas, Paulician chief, 266. 

Korboga, Sultan of Mossoul, 835. 

Koreishites of Mekka, 202 

Kosmas, Athenian Pseudo-Prophet, 268. 

Kossuth (Louis), 555. 

Kotaibah, Arabian general, 212. 

Kothb-ed-Din, great Shah of Khowaresm, 
276. 

Kouri, Knrsi (Kourshani), 305. 

Krakovians (Poles), 313. 

Krai (Servian King), 107, 324 368. 

Krels Obersten, Commanders of the Ger- 
man Circles, 547. 

Kriwe, Sclavonian pontiff, 305. 

Kriwitchi, Sclavonian tribe, 192. 

Krurapen (Otho), Danish general, 429. 

Kublai-Chan, 636. 

Kumani, 198, 254, 281, 815, 358, 555, 560. 

Kumanian Language, 315. 

Kunigunde of Hohenstaufen, 395. 

Kunitza of Welf, 396. 

Kunz of Kaufungen, the Kidnapper, 519. 

Koypcro'pej, Byzantine skirmishers, 262. 

Kuthen, chan, 561. 

Kutschko, the Boyard of Moscow, 46T. 

Kuturguri (tribe of Huns), 109a. 

Kuvrat, the Bulgarian, 149. 

Kymri (Cimbri), 77. 

Kyriales, Finnic tribe, 801. 



La Cerda family, 587. 

Lacys in Meath, 430. 

Ladislaw I., King of Hungary, 315. 

Ladislaw III. of "Hungary. 555. 

Ladislaw V. of Hungarv, 555. 

Ladislaw VI. of Hungary, 523, 555. 

Ladislaw VII. of Hungary 555. 

Lagman, president in'lceland, 298. 

La Hire, the general, 484 

Jm Jeune France in Greece, 358. 

La Marck, Duke of Cloves, 489. 

Lamtunlte chiefs, 574. 

Lance-law of the Cossacks, 451. 

Lancie (men-at-arms of the Italian 
princes), 414, 

Landamman, judge and governor, 549. 

Landslag (Code) of Sweden, 801. 

Landsthinq (provincial diets in Den- 
mark), 292. 

LanzTcnechte (pikemen of Germany), 554 

Lambertazzi, family of, 410. 

Langobardi (Longobardi), see Lombards. 

Langoschi dynasty of Pavia, 414. 

Laplanders, 228. 

Laras, family in Castile, 590, 597. 

Laseeks (class of the assassins), 364 

Latin Church in the Moroa, 856. 

Latin Clergy in Constantinople, 825. 

Lathi langtiage in Hungary, 314. 

La Tour d'Auvergne family, 492. 

Laiigmand, law man, or judge, 437. 

Laura de Sade, 613. 

Lauriston, general, 564 

Laval, house of, 507. 

Law-Thing of Bergen, 297. 

Lazar Brankowitch, King of Servia, 566. 

Lazi, tribe of Mount Caucasus, 135, 374, 
626. 

League of Oottes ffaus, 551. 

League of the Grisons, 551. 

League of the Ten Jurisdictions, 551. 

Ledjnnen (cowards), SO. 

Leif-Ericson, the viking, 224 

Lettian Language, 884. 

Lettic tribes, 226, 802, 305. 

Lendes (Leute, Frankish warriors), 118, 
162. 

Ljajchs (Poles) 107, 191, 250, 312. 

Librum census Danice, 378. 

Lides (serfs), 79, 118, 247. 

Life-gimrds, Varaughian, 226, 262. 
Persarmenian, 262. 
Chazaric, 262. 
Avaric, 149, 262. 

Lith-men, the chosen citizens from Lon- 
don, 290. 

Lithuanians, 107, 192. 226, 305, 452. 

Lithuanian dialects, 884. 

Litwani (Lithuanians), 192. 

Lives (Livonians), 190, 226, 305, 877, 379. 

iMdbrokar Quid a (dirge of King Kegnar), 
190. 

AoyaSfs (comrnittee of conn.^ollors). 262. 



Lombards (Longobards), 82, 140. 

Lombard League, 406, 407, 412, 414 

Lombards in Greece. 854. 

Leo the Armenian, emperor, 267. 

Leo the Isaurian, emperor, 26S. 

Leo VI., emperor, 196, 263, 278. 

Leo VI., King of Armenia, 349. 

Leo IV., pope, 252. 

Leo IX., pope, 821. 

Leo, Archdeacon of Palermo, 259. 

Leonardo IL, Toccho, Duke of Leucadia, 

360. 
Leopold the Brave, of Austria, 523. 
Leopold IL, of Austria, 523. 
Lauremburg line of Nassau, 537. 
Li'skau, Burgomaster of Danzig, 453. 
Leutfried, Duke of Alemania, 160. 
Leu-vvigild, king, 223, 126. 
Libussa, Queen of Bohemia, 107. 
Licinius (Caius Valerius). 47. 
Llewellyn, the Welsh chief, 432. 
Lollard, sectarians, 483. 
Lords of Articles in Scotland, 435. 
Lords of the Isles, 286. 
Lords of Session in Scotland, 485. 
Loredano, the Venetian, 685. 
Lorenzo de' Medici, 606, 612. 
Lothaire I., emperor, 228. 
Lothaire of Supplingenburg, 394. 
Lotwani, Chudish tribe, 3U5. 
Louis, King of Aquitaine, 184. 
Louis le Debonnair, 189, 228, 230. 
Louis the German, 228. 
Louis II., emperor, 270. 
Louis IV., emperor, 617, 520, 527, 606. 
Louis tlie Child, emperor, 247. 
Louis, King of Burgundy, 246. 
Louis the Stammerer, 246. 
Louis le Gros, King of France, 306. 
Louis IV., d'Outre-mer, King of France, 

246. 
Louis le Faineant, 231. 
Louis le Jeune, King of France, 806. 
Louis VII., King of France, 386. 
Louis VIII., Kliig of France, 502. 
Louis IX. See Saint Louis. 
Louis X., Hutin, King of France, 461. 
Louis XI., King of France, 488, 503, 50S, 

509, 553. 
Louis XII., King of France, 488. 
Louis III, of Anjou-Naples, 50-3. 
Louis of Bavaria and Brandenburg, 51T. 
Louis le Bon, Duke of Bourbon, 469. 
Louis de Bourbon, Count of Vendome, 

499. 
Louis I., Duke of Bourbon, 499. 
Louis the Bearded, Elector Palatine, 486. 
Louis the Great, of Hungary, 526, 555, 561, 

682. 
Louis II., Posthumus of Hungary, 562. 
Louis Duke of Savoy, 611. 
Louis de Tremouille of Champagne, 489. 
Louis, King of Tiinacria, 599. 
Lovfieldet, place of assembly in Iceland, 

298. 
Low German dialect, 77, 295. 
Zubsche Recht (law of Lubeck), 377. 
Luitpraud, Bishop of Cremona, 251, 260. 
Luther (Martin), the gi-eat Eeformer, 518, 

619, 550. 
Luxemburgian dynastj^ 511. 
Lupus, Count of Vasconia, 184. 



M. 

Macbeth, the usurper, 292. 

McBurghs in Munster, 430. 

Macdeans, clan of the, 286. 

McDermots of Connaught, 430. 

Mac Donalds of the Isles, 286. 

Macdonalds of Glencarry, 286. 

Macdongalls of Lorn, 286, 4-35. 

Macgi-egors, clan of the, 286. 

Machiavelli (.Niccolo), the Florentine his- 
torian, 416, 554, 613. 

Mackenzies, clan of the, 286. 

Macphersons, clan of the, 286. 

Magna Charta libertatum; 426. 

Magnentius, 47. 

3Iagnus Drnngarius, general army in- 
spector of Byzantium, 262. 

Magnus, the Good, of Norway, 292, 296. 

Magnus La^abseter, King of Norway, 297. 

Magnus I., Ladulaas, King of Sweden, 489. 

Magnus, Prince of Denmark, 292. 

Magyars. See Hungarians. 

Maiden of Norway,"heiress of the Scottish 
crown. 288, 

Maid of Orleans, 478, 479. 484 486. 

Malahatun (Treasure Woman), wife of 
Osman, sultan, 628. 

Malatesta dynasty of Rimini, 414, 613. 

Malcolm II., King of Scotland, 286. 

Malcolm III., Kehmore, 286. 

Malcolm IV., King of Scotland, 435. 

Malek-Shah, sultan, 826, 364 

Malek-Adcl, sultan, 838. 

Malger of Hauteville, 821. 

3/allum (National Diet), T9, 118. 

Malo-Eussians (Enssinians), 451, 560. 

Mamai-Chan, the Tartar, 456, 638. 

Mambour of Alsace, 497. 

Manfred of Aragon, 620. 

Manfred of NapFes, 396, 416, 614 

Manfredi dynasty of i'aenza, 414, 613. 

Maniates (Mainotts), 269. 

Mankberni (DjeLal-ed-Din), 329. 

Manny (Sir Walter), 470. 

Manuel Comnenus, emperor, 825, 351. 

Manoel the Great, of Portugal, 579. 

Marcomanni, 75, SI. 

Mardi, 277. 

Margaret, Queen of Denmark, Norway, 
anil Sweden, 378, 488. 

Margaret of Anjou, 434. 

Margaret of Flanders, 468, 496. 

Margaret of Hohenstaufen, 885, 519. 



Margaret of Huntingdon, 485. 
Margaret Maultasch, 517, 525. 
Margaret of Neuilly, heiress of Acova, 358. 
Margaret of Norway, 288, 435. 
Margaret of Oldenburg, 800, 43T. 
Margaret of Scotland, 485. 
Margraves (Border Counts), 247. 
Maria II., da Gloria, of Portugal, "584. 
Marino Dandolo, 859. 
Marini family in Naxos, 622. 
Marjory of Annandale, 435. 
Maijory of Baliol, 485. 
Mark Sanudo, Duke of Naxos, 859. 
Maronites, .345. 

Marsiac, French nobles in Naples, 614. 
Martin the Elder, King of Aragon. and Sici- 
ly, 599. 
Martin the Younger, King of Sicily, 599. 
Martin V., pope, 544. 
Martinus de, Gosi, 410. 
Mary of Auvergne, 501. 
Mary of Cleves, 532. 
Mary of Hungary, 555. 
Mary of Limoges, 470. 
Mary of Sicily and Athens, 620. 
Massagetffi, 88, 826. 
Masuri. Polish tribe, 250. 
Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary, 524, 

565, 562, 572, 635. 

Mathilda, wife of William the Conqueror, 

236. 
Mathilda of Antioch, 395. 
Mathildis, Countess of Tuscany, 252, 811, 

415. 
Maud of Hainault, Princess of Achaia, 356. 
Mauro-Bulgari (Black Bulgarians), 269. 
Maurusians, 97, 140. 
Mayiield reviews of the Franks, 171. 
Mayores Domus in France, 79, 154. 

in Castile, 589. 
Maxentius, 55. 
Maximilian I., emperor, 523. 
Maximin, 34. 
Maximns, 47. 
Mazovian Poles, 81u. 

Mf7as AoC|, Byzantine high admiral, 262. 
Meinhard, Bishop of Livonia, 377. 
Mejr-ed-Din, Arab historian, 338. 
Melancthon the Eeformer, 518. 
Melek, Sultan of Damascus, 338. 
Melias, the Armenian, 266. 
Melingi, Sclavonian Tribe in the Moroa, 

196, 269, 366, 368. 
Melissenda, Queen of Jerusalem, 338. 
Mellos family, 584 
Melo of Bari, the Greek, 321. 
Mendicant Order, 422, 
Mendozas family, 590. 
Merchant Adventurers in England, 483. 
Menezes family, 584. 
Merdavidsh, the Dllemid conqueror, 277. 
Methodius, Greek missionary, 195. 
Mexewares, Moorish Councillors, 215. 
Michael III,, emperor, 196, 266, 273. 
Michael the Stammerer, emperor, 259. 
Michael the Paphlagonian, emperor, 825. 
Michael VIII., Patoologus, emperor, 358, 

625. 
Michael Angelos, Despot of Epirus, 851, 

372. 
Michael II., Despot of Epirus, 358. 
Michael Borissowitsch, Duke of Twer, 460. 
Mieczislav, Duke of Poland, 260. 
Military Tribunes of Venice, 271. 
Military Republic of the Order of Saint 

John of Jerusalem, 386. 
Milosch Kobilawitch, 566. 
Mindag, Grand Duke of Lithuania, 884 
MinnesCingers (Troubadours), 77. 
Minos, King of Crete, 89. 
3Linstrels in Greece, 856. 
Mirdites, Albanian tribe, 624. 
Missi Dominici (imperial envoys), 160, 

167, 247. > h , 

Mithridates, King of Pontus, 22. 
3fobeds, Persian Magi, 96. 
MfEso-Goths, 90. 

Moez-Ledin-IUah, the Fatimiu, 280. 
Mogul (Great), of Delhi, 639. 
Mohammed, the prophet, 194 197. 201, 222. 
Mohammed Abn-Abdallah, ' of Morocco, 

591. 
Mohammed I., Sultan, 627. 
Mohammed II., Al-Amin, Abb.asid caliph, 

275. 
Mohammed IL, the Conqueror, sultan, 

566, 610, 618, 620, 627, 631, 638. 
Mohammed III.,Motassem, eighth Abbasid 

caliph, 274. 
Mohammed Moktasi Beamrillah, caliph, 

330. 
Mohammed Abubekr-Ebn-Kaik, the first 

Emir Al Omrah, 274. 
Mohammed I., Ebn-al-Uamar. of Granada, 

608. 
Mohammed, Shah of Khowaresm, 276. 
Mohammed-al-Ikhshid, the Egyptian chief, 

280. 
Mohammed, the last Taherite, 275. 
Mohammed III,, the last Ghorid, 275. 
Mohammed, Moluk of Morocco, 646. 
Mohammed Yemin-ed-DauIa, the Gbasna- 

vid, 275. 
Vloipdpxo.1, Bj'zantine colonels, 262. 
Molathemin (veiled Arabs). 334. 
Moncada (Guillen de), seneschal of Catala- 

nia, 318. 
Mongols, 315. 388, 626. 
Monks Hospitallers at Jerusalem, 889. 
Monothelites, 345. 
Monta.-iser. the last Sanianid, 275. 
Montefeltri dynasty of Urbino, 414, 618. 
Montfort, French i'amilv in Naples, 614, 
Morabetlis, in Africa, 334. 
Moravians (Slavi), 812, 516. 
Mordwins, in Russia, 193, 302, 460. 
Morlachs (Sea Wallach.s), 563, 
Morlfitrs, Scottish mayors or vicars, 288. 



HISTORICAL INDEX. 



219 



Morosini, family of, 823. 
Mortimer, tlie Pararaoiu-, 434. 
Mosca Lamberti, 416. 
Mossen Jordi, the Poet, 596. 
Moss-troopers of Scotland, 286. 
Mosta Abulkasem, Caliph of Egypt, 332. 
Miiley II., Hassan of Tunis, 643. 
Miiley Abal, Hassan of Granada, 604. 
ilundskienk (cup-bi'arer), 290, 296. 
Murad I., sultan, 566, S6T, 627. 
Murad II., sultan, 569, 027. 
Muriella, Countess of Hauteville, 321. 
Muromens, Finnish tribe, 226, 302. 
Musa Ben-Nasair, 213. 
Mustaplia, Turkish priuoe, 627. 



N. 



Nador-Ispan (Count Palatine), of Hun- 
gary, 314, 555. 

Nadsd, family, 562. 

Napoleon Buonaparte, 383, 384, 462, 453, 
458. 

Narses, the Eunuch, 137, 139. 

Nassau-Orange iiimily, 537. 

Nassir-Daud, emir ot Kerak, 338. 

Nennius, the historian, 102. 

Neri (Blacks), of Florence, 416, 420. 

Nerio I., Aociajuoli, Duke of Athens, 620. 

Nerio II., Acciajuoli, Duke of Athens, 620. 

Nestor, Eussian historian, 304. 

Nestorian Christians, 96, 345. 

Neville, Earl of Warwick, 4-34. 

NiccoU degli Acciajuoli, general of Naples, 
615. 

Niccolb Acciajuoli, banker of Florence, 
620. 

Nioetas, the historian, 353. 

Nicetas of Tarsus, governor of Syracuse, 
259. 

Nicephorus I. Logothetes, emperor, 117. 

Nicephorus Phocas, emperor, 261, 824. 

Nicholas III., pope, 410. 

Niehelimgen Lied (song of the Niebelun- 
gen heroes), 77. 

Niels (Nicholas). King of Denmark, 292. 

Niels Ebbeson of Niirreriis, 378. 

Nigel Bruce, 436. 

Nobili (Veneiian), in Crete, 859, 

NorduicBiid (Norwegians), 85, 22-3. 

Normans in Greece, 324, 325. 

Norman chivalry, 293. 

Norman pilgiims in Italy, 321. 

Noronhos, family, 584. 

North Frisians, 294. 

Norwegian Slcjidde (bards), 223. 

Nunhi) Alvares Pereira, constable, 581. 

Nuno Fernandez, Count of Castile, 256. 

Nour-ed-Din, the great Atabek, 330. 

Nynias, the Briton, -101. 



O. 



Oatazid, dynasty, 645. 

Obeidallali, the Fatimid. 213. 

O'Birnes family, 429. 

Obotrites, Vendic tribe, 82, 295. 

Obri, see Avars. 

O'Brians in Munster, 480. 

O'Carrolls in Louth, 430. 

O'Connors in Conuaught, 219, 430. 

Octavian Augustus, 38. 

OdeU-honder (freeholders), 118, 223, 437, 

488. 
Odin, the Allfather, 82. 
Odo, Count of Savoy, 246. 
Odoacer, King of Italy, 127. 
O'Flairts of Oonnanght, 430. 
Offa, King of East Anglia. 143. 
Oghus, Turkish Chan. 826, 
Ogle, the rcfiicide, 434. 
Okba-Eniir, organizer of the Arabic em- 
pire in Spain, 215. 
Okaili<l dynasty, 278. 
O'Kelleys of Connaught, 430. 
Olaf Kyrre, King of Norway, 296. 
Olaf Skotkonning, King of Sweden, 282. 
Olaf Tryggveson, King of Norway, 219. 
Old Man of the mountain, 210, 346. 
Olelko family, 453. 
Olga, Queen of Russia, 226. 
Olgerd, Grand Duke of Lithuania, 456. 
Olivier de Clisson, 470. 
O'Mayles of Connaught, 430. 
Ommiyad dynasty of Caliphs, 198, 316, 
O'Moores, the border clan, 480. 
O'Neals, Irish clan, 219, 430. 
Ordelaffl, dynasty of Forli. 414, 613. 
Order (military), of Aviz, 579. 

of Calatrava, 816. 

of Christ, 579. 

of Danebrog, 877. 

of the Golden Fleece, 493. 

of the Hospital, 389, 356, 362, 561, 
562, 618, 623. 

of Montesa, 5J8. 

of Saint Mary, 377, 379, 383, 543, 
559, 561. 

of the Sword, 850. 

of the Sword Bearers, 879, 880, 384, 

of the Temple, 339, 356, 543, 577, 
579. 

of the Wing of Saint Michael, 579. 

(monastic), of Vallonibrosa, 418. 
Ordoilo II., King of Gothia (Leon), 255 

256. 
Orginsliy family, 452. 
Orkhan Sultan, the lawgiver, 627. 
Ornold Spieringk, Flemish knight, 497. 
Orsini, Roman family, 613. 
Orszag, Magyar family, 662. 
Ortenburg, house of, 896. 
Ortok, sultan, 308. 
Ortok Bei, Turkman chief, 828. 
Osgood, sheriff of Lincoln, 221 
Osman (Othman), sultan, 627. 
Osorios, family in Leon, 590. 



Ossetes (Circassians), 90. 

Ostmanner (Danes), 100, 283. 

Ostphalian Saxons, 173. 

Ostrogoths, 75, 127—132. 

Ostrogothic architecture, 130. 

Othman, caliph, 206. 

Otho the Great, 218, 247, 248. 250. 

Otho II., emperor, 250, 270. 

Otho III., emperor, 250, 252. 

Otho IV"-, emperor, 895, 467. 

Otho I,, King of Greece, 358. 

Otho, Bishop of Bamburg, 536. 

Otho of Brandenburg, 517. 

Otho of Burgundy, 395. 

Otho de la Roche, grand sire of Athens, 

855 
Ottocar II., of Bohemia, 898. 
Ottomans. See Turks. 
O'Tooles, mountain clan, 430. 
Ouvidores, in Portugal, 578. 
Ovidius, the Roman poet, 81. 



P. 

Pachecos de Acuna, family of Castile, 590. 

Pachymius, 11. 

Palavicini family, 611. 

Paiz-da-coroa (crown lands), 578. 

Palffy family, 562. 

Palnatoke, the founder of Jomsborg, 295. 

Pandects of Justinian, 410. 

Pandulph, Iron-head, Duke of Benevento, 
271. 

Pangkratukas, Armenian chief, 266. 

Pariks, serfs in Cvprus, 350. 

Parthians, 277. 

TlarplKioi tvvovxoi (eunuch courtiers,) 
26'2. 

Patzinakita (Patzinaks, see Petcheneges), 
254. 

Paulician sectarians, 366, 565. 

Pazzi, counts in Val d'Arno, 415. 

Pedro I., of Portugal, 580. 

Pedro I., of Aragon, 318. 

Pedro II., of Aragon, 591. 

Pedro I a., of Aragon, 423, 597, 598, 599. 

Pedro IV., of Aragon, 598. 

Pedro the Cruel of Castile, 587, 59), 592 

Pedro Coelho, 580. 

Pelasgians, 77. 

Pclayo the Visigoth hero, 217. 

Peoes, peasantry in Portugal, 578. 

Pepin, son of Charlemagne, 149, )87. 

Pepin of Heristal, Major Domus, 154. 

Pepin-le-Bref, King of France, 154, 257. 

Percys of Northumberland, 433. 

Pereiras. family, 584. 

Perkin Warbeck, 429. 

Perkunas, the Thunder God of the Lithu- 
anians, 384. 

Perpers (gold Byzants), 350. 

Perperii on Cypru.?, 350. 

ITepiirrTOTrpa/cria, Byzantine Income as- 
sessments, 262. 

Petcheneges (Petchinegues), 193, 218, 258, 
254. 802, 315, 325. 561, 568. 

Peter the Bulgarian, 668. 

Peter the Great, czar, 457. 

Peter de Courtenay, Emperor of Romania, 
858. 

Peter von Hagenbach the bailiff, 689. 

Peter the Hermit, 808, 825, 335. 

Peter, Count of Savoy, 413. 

Petrarch, 618. 

PetruB Eavennas, the professor, 535. 

Pezagno (Manoel). admiral, 578. 

Pfdhlburger, 402. 

Pfalz-grafen (Comites Palatini), 167. 

PhanarioU of Constantinople, 570. 

Philip I, King of France, 806. 

Philip August, King of France, 306. 

Philippe-le-Long. King of France, 461, 469. 

Philippe IV., le Bel, King of France, 893, 
461, 6(11. 

Philip of Evreux, King of Navarra, 601. 

Philip of Hohenstaufen, emperor. 395. 

Philip the Handsome of Austria, 523. 

Philip the Bold of Burgundy, 465, 468, 495. 

Philip the Good of Burgandy, 495, 497, 498. 

Philip the Generous of Hesse, 540. 

Philip of Nassau, 519. 

Philip of Orleans, 465. 

Philipp of Valois (YL), King of France, 
461, 601. 

Philippa, Queen of Denmark, 444, 439. 

Philippa, Queen of England, 434. 

Phelim McGenis, 429. 

Phirsesi. See Warseger. 

Photius, Patriarch of Constantinople, 273. 

Piast the Peasant, first Duke of Poland. 
250. 

Piastian dynasty, 250. 

Pichi, dynasty of Mirandola, 414, 611. 

Piccinino (Niccolb), the Condottiere, 608. 

Picts, 102, 284. 

Pierre I., Duke of Bourbon, 499. 

Pierre d' Aubusson, grand master, 623 

Pii, dynasty of Carpi, 414, 611, 

Pimenteles family, 590. 

nXayiocfuAaKer, Byzantine rear-gunrds, 
262. 

Plantagenet dynasty, 291, 426. 

Plat-Deutche Sprache (Low Gorman dia- 
lect) 'S. 

Plusso,' *e Vende, 295. 

Podebusk (Sir Henning), 645. 

Polaks (Poles), 107. 

Polfeni, on the Dniester, 192. 

Polemons dynasty in Pontus, 28. 

Polenta, dynasty of Eavenna, 414. 

Polotzchani, Slavic tribe, 226. 

Polovtzi. See Kumani. 

Pomponius L«tus, 600, 

Ponces de Leon family in Andalusia, 590. 

Ponsic French family in Naples, 614. 

Poradine (Polish tax), 318. 

Portocarrero.s, family in Castile, 590. 



Posadnics, Servian farmers, 567. 

Posadnic (maire) of Novgorod, 804. 

Pospolite Buscenie, feudal army of Po- 
land, 250, 313, 446. 

Poidani, Syrian descendants of the Crusa- 
ders, 258, 848. 

Profectus Angvstalis, 15, 
Wrbis. 6. 

Prfv t des marchands in Paris, 464. 

Primas Rispaniaritm, 593. 

Primislav III., of Bohemha, 395. 

Prickers, border cavalry, 431. 

Procopius, Hussite general. 515. 

Provveditori, Venetian governors, 568. 

Prussians (Pruczi), 302, 305, 379. 

Q. 

Quadi, 75, SI. 

Quains, Finnic tribe, 225, 801, 442. 

Quirini, family of, 359. 



Eabites, Moorish border-riders, 258. 

Radoslovnie-Knig, register of nobility, 
456. 

Eadul the Black, Prince of Moldavia, 670. 

Radzivil family, 449, 852, 

Raitzi (Servians), 324, 368, 560. 
Rainulf. Norman chief, 322. 

Rakoczy, princely family of Transylva- 
nia, 555. 

Ralph, lord of Kalavryta, 858. 

Ramiro. the Monk, King of Aragon, 818. 

Randolph, the Bold, 436. 

Raoul, Duke of Lorraine, 529. 

Eascians (Servians), 196, 

BatJisherren, 402. 

liauhritter, 544. 

Raymond of Saint Gilles, Count of Tou- 
louse, 308, 326, 827, 335. 

Raymond IL, Count of Tripolis, 364. 

Raymond III,, of Tripolis, 845. 

Raymond Berengar II., of Barcelona, .319. 

Raymond III., Count of Barcelona, 318. 

Raymond Berengar, IV., Count of Barce- 
lona, 243, 2,57, 318. 417. 

Eaynald of Chatillon, lord of Kerak, 843. 

Eecchiaris the Visigoth, 126. 

Recken (adventurous warriors), 79. 

Rectors of the Lombard league, 409, 412. 

Reding of Biberegg, 552. 

Refeeks, class of A^ssassins, 364. 

Regnar Lodbrog, Danish sea-king, 190, 

Reichs-Kainmer-Gericht, high tribunal 
of the empire, 547. 

Rcineke Fuchs, Saxon poem, 77. 

Rene le lion Roi, of Anjou-Naples, 503. 

Rene II, Duke of Lorraine, 490, 503. 

Rettori, presidents of the Eagusan repub- 
lic, 564. 

Rhenish confederacy, 404. 

Rhodes, knights of, 362, 618, 623. 

Richard Coeur de Lion, 338, 386, 

Richard IL, King of England, 434. 

Eich.ard the Good, Duke of Normandy, 821, 
236. 

Eichard de Clare (Strongbow) invader of 
Ireland, 283. 

Eichemont, Count of, 478. 

Ricos-Bbmetis, 578, 

Ricos Hombres, 689, 695. 

Rigsdage (diets of nobility and clergy in 
Denmark), 438. 

Riks- Jarl (yarl of the realm) 225. 

Rigsmbder (general diets in Donmark), 
292. 

Rigsraad, state council, 438. 

Ringold, Grand Prince of Lithuania, 305. 

Repuarlan Franks, 80. 

Rilters/utfi, feudal knighthood, 247. 

Robert I, King of France, 306. 

Robert I., King of Scotland, 432, 435. 

Robert IL, Stuart, King of Scotland, 435. 

Eobert III., Stuart, King of Scotland, 435. 

Eobert Stuart, Duke of Albany, 438. 

Eobert of Burgundy, 306. 

Robert de Champlitle, Prince of Achaia, 
356. 

Robert of Clermont and Bourbon, 499. 

Robert, Count of Flanders, 80S, 385. 

Robert Guiscard, the Norman Duke, 236, 
252,809, 311,321, 324. 

Eobert Curt-Hose, Duke of Normandy, 
308, 327, 835. 

Robert, Count of Paris, 326. 

Robert de Tremouille, lord of Chalan- 
dritza, 358. 

Robertsons, clan of the, 286. 

Roderic, last king of the Visi-Goths, 197. 

RodericO'Conner, King of Connaught, 288. 

Rodrigo Ponce de Leon, 604. 

Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar el Cid, 317, 320, 384. 

Eodulf, English bishop, 232. 

Rodwan the Ortokid, 330. 

Eoger of Hauteville, Great Count of Sicily, 
321. 

Eoger I., King of Naples and Sicily, 236, 
259, 824, 833, 643. 

Eoger Deslau, Commander of the Cata- 
lans, 620. 

Roger de Flor, Catalan general, 629. 

Roger de Loria, Catalan" admiral, 424, 596. 

Rogiers i Pedro), 596. 

Rois Faineants, the Idlers, 154. 

Roland, Count of Bretagne, 184. 

Rolf Ganger, the Norman, 236. 

Roman Franks (Westlanders, Neustrians), 
154. 

Romanoff dynasty, 456. 

Romanus Diogenes, emperor, 324. 

Romualdus, Duke of Beneventum, 186. 

Ross (Russians), 226. 

Rosses, clan of the. 286, 435. 

Rosstjeneste ^feudal service), 377. 

Rotharis. King of the Lombards, 152. 

Eosolani (Russians), 90. 



Euccones in Spain, 128. 

Endolph of Balm, the regicide, 562. 

Rudolph Brun of Zurich, 549. 

Rudolph, Count of Transjurane Burgundy, 

246. 
Rudolph II. of Burgundy, 246. 
Rudolph III., King of Burgundy, 246. 
Rudolph, Count of Eriach, 563. 
Rudolph of Habsburg, 396. 
Rudolph of Souabia, 310. 
Eugians, 81. 

Eumani of Transylvania, 83, 561. 
Runic Inscriptions, 222. 
Euric, the Jute, 82, 226, 253. 
Rusconi, dynasty of Como, 414 
Russian armies and warfare, 456. 
Russian literattire and art, 804. 
Russian clergy, 226. 
Russniaks (Russians), 193. 
Russirians, 30.3, 451. 
Eustan, the Persian hero, 212. 
Euthenians (Russniaks), 303, 451, 560. 



S. 



Sa'ady, the Persian poet, 277. 
Sabean Arabs, 200. 
Sachsenspiegel (Saxon Mirror), 77. 
SagudatEe, Bulgarian h-ibe, 269. 
Saint Augustine, 62, 317. 
Saint Austin, the Apostle of the Anglo- 
Saxons, 221. 
Saint Bcnedict,-^317. 
Saint Bernard, 392. 
Saint Boniface, 166. 
Saint Columba, 100, 141. 
Saint Canute, King of Denmark, 293. 
Saint Cuthbert, 190. 
Saint Denis, the Apostle of Gaul, 181. 
Saint Eric, King of Sweden 225. 
Saint Eusebius, 11. 
Saint Francis of Assissi, 422. 
Saint Gall us, 175. 
Saint Hilarion, 11. 
Saint Jerome, 11. 
Saint John, the Almoner, of Alexandria, 

839. 
Saint John the Baptist, 339. 
Saint Jodut of the Saxons, 810. 
Saint Lazaru-s, 340. 
Saint Louis, 04,3. 
Saint Maron, 845. 
Saint Mark, 314. 
Saint Martin, 181. 

Saint Olaf, King of Norway, 282, 296. 
Saint Olympius the Painter, 604. 
Saint Palladlus, 101. 
Saint Pantaleon, 897. 
Saint Patrick, 100. 
Saint Paul, the Apostle, 289. 
Saint Peter, the Apostle, 239. 
Saint Remigerius, 111, 
Saint Romualdus, 420. 
Saint Rule the Moreote, 288. 
Saint Sabas, 11. 
Saint Stanislaus, 312, 450. 
Saint Spyridon, 267. 
Salah-ed-Din (Saladin), the great Sultan, 

280, 830, 365. 
Salian dynasty, 396, 537. 
Salian Franks, 80. 
Salices, 31. 

Samanid dynasty, 275. 
Samogitians, 805. 
Samsam-ed-Daula, the destroyer ol tho 

Karamathian heretics, 279. 
Sancha, princess of Castile, 255. 
Sancho I., King of Portugal, 578. 
Sancho IL, King of Portugal, 577. 
Sancho Eamirez, King of Aragon, 318. 
Sancho IIL, King of Castile, 316. 
Sancho, Prince of Castile. 817. 
Sancho, King of Mayorca, 698. 
Sancho III., el Mayor, King of Navarra, 

257, 318. 
Sancho VI., King of Navarra, 601. 
Santa Helena, 87. 

Santa JTermandad, police of Castile, 690. 
Santa Kunigunda, 450. 
Santa Paula, 11. 
Sapieha family, 452. 
Sapor, King of Persia, 135. 
Saporogian Cossacks, 451. 
Saracens, 94, 200. 
Saracen arinature, lli. 
Sarmalian (Sclavonic), tribes, 11. 
Sarolta, Hungarian princess, 253. 
Sassanid dynasty, 206. 
Sam-omatians (Sarmatis), 88. 
Savelli, Roman family, 618. 
Savoy, house .of, 246, 418, 611. 
Saxo Grammaticus, the Danish historian, 

295. 
Saxon dynasties, 518. 
Saxons, 78, S2, 105, 154. 
Shanditi (Italian exiles), 420. 
Scanderbeg. See Gcorgios Castriota. 
Scandinavian Crusaders, 837. 
Scandinavian ti'ibes, 77. 
Scara, Scharen (mercenary troops), J 67. 
Scenitffi Arabs, 200. 

Schasseh, the Bohemian secretary, 605. 
Scherif, dynasty of Morocco, 645. 
Schiere delta Morte (Milanese troops), 408. 
Schirm-'Vogtei, imperial vicariate, 548. 
Schwepperman (Siegfried,) 527. 
Schwertritter in Livonia, 380, 381, 384. 
Scir-gerefa (shcrift;) 290. 
Sclavini, 269. 
Sclavonian invasions and settlements in 

Greece, 196, 269. 
Sclavonian tribes in Hungary, 560. 
Scots (Scoti), 101. 

Scott (Sir Walter), lord of Buccleuch, 486. 
Scottish tribes and clans, 101, 287. 
Scyres, 90. 
Scythians, 326. 

Sea-Wallachians (Morlachs), 568. 
S6a-ki7igs, 85, 144. 



220 



HISTORICAL INDEX. 



Sebastian of Portugal, 579, 5S3, 646. 

2e;8a(rTos (Aufrustus), 262. 

Sebec-Thegin of Ghasna, 275. 

Sectarians in France, 376. 

Seidijn, Mohammedan sectarians, 279. 

Seid-Oataz of Morocco, 645. 

8eif-ed-Daula of Mossul, 278. 

Seif-ed-Din, Ghorid conqueror, 275. 

Beldjuk, Emir of the Turks, 826. 

Beldjukian Turks, 274. 

Selini I., sultan, 36.5. 

Selim II., sultan, 622. 

Semgalli, 305. 

Seneschal of Sweden, 301. 

Septimus Severus, emperor, 73. 

Serlon of Hanteville, 321. 

Servcrians, Sclavonic tribe, 195. 

Seven Peers of Champagne, 3SS. 

Seven Tribes of Sclavonians, 195. 

Sforza Attendolo, the Condottiere, 614, 615. 

Sgollags (hegemen), 101. 

Shaname (The Kings), epic poem of Fer- 
dusi the Persian, 275. 

Shane O'Toole, 429. 

Sharakajem (Saracens, children of the 
East), 200. 

Sheik-al-Djebal (Ancient of the Moun- 
tain), 364. 

Shirkuh the Kurd, 330. 

Siamet, feudal estate in Turkey, 627. 

Sibylla, Queen of Jerusalem, 33S. 

Sicarabri (Franks), SO. 

Sicilian vespers, 423, 424. 

Sigefried, English bishop, 282. 

Siegfried, Count of Luxemburg, 248. 

Sigeward. English bishop, 2S2. 

Siegfried von Feuchtwangen, grand mas- 
ter, 381. 

Sjellandske Zov (Code of Sealand), 292. 

Sigebert I., King of Austrasia, 145, 147. 

Signers of the Maek Robe in Venice, 607. 

Skypetars. See Albanians. 

Silihdars, picked cavalry of the Turks, 627. 

Sigismuud, emperor, 380, 511, 562. 

Sigismund I. of Poland, 446, 453. 

Bigismund II. of Poland, 446, 454. 

Sigismund, Count of Tyrol, 523. 

SigiuiHam the Italian KepubHcs, -114. 

Si.;urd Jarl, the high priest, 223. 

Sigurd King, King of Sweden and Den- 
mark, 190. 

Sigurd Snake-eye, King of D'^nmark, 190. 

SUeniiarii, imperial officers, 262. 

Silesians (Slavi), 313. 

Silures, tribe in Wales, 103. 

Silvas, family in Portugal, 584. 
in Castile, 590. 

Simeon, Bulgarian chief, 324. 

Simon de Montford, 434. 

Sinclairs, clan of the, 286. 

Sineus, the Jute, 225. 

Sipahis, feudal cavalry of the Ottomans 
561, 627. 

Sisebut, King of the Visigoths, 123. 

Siward. Earl of Northumberland, 292. 

Sixtus IV., Pope, 600. 

Skaaningers, the inhabitants of Scania, 293. 

Skaanske Lov (Code of Scania), 292. 

Skjold, son of Odin, 82. 

Skjoldunger, dynasty of, 85. 

Skrit Finns (Finns on Scathes), 86, 

2/(oi;A»carop6s, Byzantine outposts, 262. 

Slavesiani, 196. 

Slavic nations, 77, 88, 117, 188. 

Slavini, 91, 209. 

Slavo-Finnic races, 107. 

Sloveni (Slavi , 107. 

Slovensi, Sclavonian tribe, 226. 

Slowaks, 516, 560. 

Snorro Sturleson, the historian, 219, 298. 

SolTarid dynasty, 275. 

Solares, feudal estates, 578. 

Solomon, King of Hungary, 566. 

Somerset family, 433. 

Sorabian Slavi in Saxony, 149. 

Soplii of Persia, 637. 

Sorabo-Serbians, 187. 

Sorabo-Vendes, 107. 

Souabian league, 404, 528, 544. 

Sousas family, 584. 

Spahix. See Sipahis. 

Spencers of Wales, 432. 

Spinola family, 610. 

StaiHreuht of the Hanse, 402. 

Stafford (Sir Humphrey), 434. 

Stallere (marshal and standard-bearer), 
290, 296. 

Stanleys family, 433. 

Staroxts (earls) of Poland, 446. 

Sten Sture the Elder of Sweden, 4.38. 

Sten Sture the Younger of Sweden, 4-38. 

Stephania, the Eoman widow, 252. 

Stephanos, Athenian commander, 826. 

Stephen I., King of Hungary, 253. 

Stephen II. of Hungary, 566. 

Stephen, Count of Blois, 291, 308. 

Stephen Boistlaf, the Servian chief, 324. 

Stephen Douschan, Krai of Servia, 303, 372. 

Stephen, Voivod of Moldavia, 570. 

Stephen II,, pope, 154. 

Stewarts, clan of the, 286. 

Stewarts of Athol, 286. 

Stewarts of the March, 287. 

Stilicho, the Koman general, 51, 55. 

Stockholm, massacre of, 438, 440, 445. 

Stoolkings, 221. 

Strand-Frisians, 80, 378, 401. 

Straniacks, Moravian slaves, 516. 

2TpaT7)-yoi, Byzantine commanders, 262. 

Strategopulos (Alexius), Greek general, 353. I 



Stuart (Walter^, ancestor of the dynasty, 
435. 

Suero (Don), founder of the Order of Al- 
cantara, 317. 

Suleyman, the Seldjuk, 824, 827. 

Suleyman Shah-Ben-Kaial, the Tartar, 627. 

Suleyman II., sultan, 562, 635. 

Suleyman Pasha, 627, 632. 

Suethones (Swedes), 85. 549. 

Suevi (Souabians), 81, 123, 126, 151. 

Sunkurtekin, the Ogusian, 627. 

Suomi, in Finnland,"442. 

Sudani, on Mount Lebanon, 345. 

Surreys family, 433. 

Svante Sture, administrator of Sweden, 
438. 

Svear, Svenskar (Swedes), 85, 144. 

Sverre, King of Norway, 296. 

Sviars (Swedes), 301. 

Swiirtoslav, Grand Duke of Russia, 226 
302. 

Swan-Knights of Brandenburg, 517. 

Swantevit, the war-god of the Vendes, 
107, 296, 377. 

Swatopluk, Prince of Mdra-via, 516. 

Swend, the Crusader, Prince of Denmark, 
327. 

Swend Estridson, Kins of Denmark, 292. 

Swend Fork-Beard of Denmark, 289. 

Swend Grathe, King of Jutland, 292. 

Swinthila, King of the Visigoths, 123. 

Sword-Brothers, military order of Li- 
vonia, 305. 

Swiss Confederacy, 548. 

Sw-iss warfare, 554. 

Syagrius, Roman general, 110. 

Syamaiti, 805. 

Syrukalpei, Petchenegue tribe, 254. 

Szaszoks (foreign colonists), in Hungary, 
561. 

Szeklers, border tribe of Hungary, 253, 
559, 561. 

Szilagyi, Magyar nobles, 562. 

Sdachzikes, feudal nobility in Poland, 
250, 446. 



T. 

Tacitus, the liistori.an, 78. 

Taharite dynasty, 275. 

Taher, last chief of the Soffarids, 275. 

Taher, Arabian general, 275. 

Talbot, lord, 479, 487, 493. 

Talbots of Waterford, 430. 

Tamerlane. See Timur-Chan. 

Tanered of Hauteville, 236, 321. 

Tancred the Norman, Prince of Galilee, 

308, 327, 335, 343. 
Tarlc-Ben-Zeyad, 213. 
Tarlati, counts of the Val di Chiana, 415. 
Tasso (Torquato), the Italian poet, 827. 
Tavastians, 442. 
Tcherkassian Cossicks, 452. 
Tcherkassians of Mount Caucasus, 315. 
Tchermessians of Mount Oural, 4()0. 
Tchermessians of Kasan, 460. 
Tejas, King of the Ostrogoths, 189. 
Tekely (Tokcily), Count of, 655. 
Tetraxitan Goths, 91, 135. 
Tetzel, doctor of Nurnberg, 605. 
Teudelinda, Queen of the Lombards, 152. 
Teutonic knights, 805, 377, 559, 561. 
Thamar, Byzantine princess, 874. 
Thangbrand, missionary of Iceland, 293. 
Tharapilla, god of the Esthonians, 877. 
Thassilon, Duke of Bavaria, 149, 175, 250. 
Theodebald, Kins: of Austrasia, 145. 
Theodebert I., 1()5, 145. 
Theodebert II., King of Austrasia, 145. 
Theodimir of Lorca, 215. 
Theodoric the Ostrogoth, 127. 
Theodora, Byzantine empress, 266. 
Theodore Lascaris, Emperor of Niciea, 

351,370. 
Theodore, Despot of Epirus, 854. 
Theodosius, count, 73. 
Theodosius the Great, emperor, 3, 4, 52. 
Theodosius the Younger, emperor, 11. 
Theodosius, the Monk of Syracuse, 259. 
Theoktistos, Byzantine general, 196. 
Theophauia of Constantinople, wife of 

Otho II , 261. 
Theresa Lorenzo, 579. 
Thiebault I., King of NavaiTa, 601. 
Thierry I., King of Austrasia, 113, 145. 
Thierry II., King of Burgundy, 145. 
Thierry of Eidderford, grand master, 343. 
Thieves (serfs), the unfree class of the 

Anglo-Saxons, 290. 
Thing (public assemblies), 301, 377. 
Thomas Palffiologus, Despot of Patras, 621. 
Thora the Fair, the love of Hakon, 223. 
Thorwald Ericson, 224. 
Thrasamond the Vandal, 134. 
Thur (Tor), the war-god, 82. 
Thyra Dancbod, Queen of Denmark, 222. 
Tilly, Count, Bavarian general, 520. 
Timar, Turkish flefs, 627. 
Timur-Chan (Timurlenk, Tamerlane), 865, 

456, 630, 636, 637, 638, 639. 
Tiverzi, Sclavonian tribe, 195. 
Tocco (Charles), Duke of Leucadia, 360. 
Tocco (Thomas) Count Palatine of Cepha- 

lonia, 872. 
Tocchi, noble family of, 860, 621. 
Toghrul-Bei, Turkish sultan, 274, 826. 
Toledos, family of Castile, 590. 
Torflnn, the Norwegian, 224. 
Tostig, the Saxon, 291. 
Totilas, King of the Ostrogoths, 139. 



TouASoi', Byzantine camp baggage, 262. 
ToupMapx"'' Byzantine commanders of 

the light cavalry, 262. 
Tournaments at Athens, 855. 
Toxides, Albanian tribe, 624. 
Trcelle (serfs), 223. 

Tristao Vas Texeira, the navigator, 586. 
Troila, King of Oviedo, 217. 
Troubadours, poets of Provence. 236, 319. 
Trouv res, poets of Normandy, 236. 
Truvor, brother of Euric, 226. 
Trajan, emperor, 33. 
Tuktamisch, Mongol prince, 638. 
Tulunid dynasty, 280. 
Turco-Magyar tribes, 559. 
Turcopoules, 632. 
Turkomans (Truchmens), 326, 276, 626, 

631, 637. 
Turks, Oghusian, 326, 627. 

Ortokid, 325, 328. 

Osmanli, 627-684. 

Seldjukian, 325. 
Turoni, 81. 

Twartko of Bosnia, f65. 
Tyr-Conells of Ulster, 430. 
Tyr-Oens of Ulster, 430. 
Tysaskoi (vice-governor) of Novgorod, 304. 
Tzakonians (Lakonians) in the Morea, 358. 

U. 

TJars (Avars of Mount Caucasus), 149. 

Uberto Visconti, 414. 

Ubaldini, counts in the Mugello, 415, 41 6. 

Uberti, counts in Toscana, 415. 416. 

Udallers, free proprietors, 437. 

Ugri (Hungari), 89. 

Ulphilas, bishop of the Visigoths, 77. 

Ulric von Jungingen, gi'and master, 883. 

Ulric, Count of Wiirtemberg, 528. 

Uplandic code of Sweden, 801. 

Urban IL, pope, 808. 

Urius. Chan of Kapschak, 638. 

Urraca, Queen of Castile, 316. 

Ursina, shield-maiden, 190. 

Usatica, old laws of Catalonia, 819. 

Usbeck Tartars, 639. 

Uturguri (Hunnish tribe), 108. 

Uzi, Tartaric tribe, 254, 281, 815. 



V. 

Vwringer (Varanghians), 79, 226, 262, 289, 

296. 
Vagrians, 295. 

Valand^ (Kumanian rovers), 315. 
Valences in Wexford, 430. 
Valens, emperor, 30. 
Valentina Visconti, 494 
Valentinian I., 4,7 73. 
Valhalla (Scandinavian Paradise), 83, 188. 
Valois-Angoulcme dynasty, 494. 
Valois-Orleans, dynasty of, 488, 494. 
Valvassors, with military tenure, 293. 
Vandali, 81, 90. 
Astengi, 80. 
Therwingi, 90. 
Varanghian body-guard in Constantinople, 

226, 262, 326. 
Varani, dynasty Of Caraerino, 414, 163. 
Varini (Varni), 81. 
Vasco de Gama, 581, 641. 
Vasconcellos family, 584. 
Velascos, family in Castile, 590. 
Veliki-Knaz (grand prince of Lithuania), 

305. 
Vendes, 82. 192, 227, 295, 526. 
Vendi (Veneti), 91, 295. 
Vendili. See Vendes. 
Vendome, Count of, 478. 
Veneti (Sclavonians), 91. 
Venieri family in Naxos, 622. 
Vice-Comites (viscounts or bailiffs), 230. 
VikeTiske Zov, code of Viken, 297. 
Vikinger (sea-rovers), 82, 85, 144. 221. 
J^ilians (gude-men), 236. 
Villaret (Fulco de), grand master, 362. 
Visigoths, 75, 90. 

kingdom of the, 123, 124, 125. 
VisigotUc Code, 123, 319. 
Vitherlags-Ret (military code) of King 

Canute, 292. 
Victor Capello, Venetian admiral, 634. 
Victoria, Queen of England, 390. 
Voivods, chiefs of the Magyars, 253. 

governors of Poland, 446. 
Vos van Dolfic, the Flemish knight, 497. 
Visconti, dynasty of Milano, 414, 609. 



W. 

Waiblingers, party of, 897. 

Waldemar I. Knudson, King of Denmark 
292. 

Waldemar II. the Victorious, 294. 

Waldemar III. (Atterdag), King of Den- 
mark, 8S0. 

Waldemar I. Birgerson, King of Sweden, 
801. 

Waldemar, Prince of Sweden, 440. 

Waldenses, 892. 

Walid I., Ommyiad caliph, 213. 

Walies, Saracenic governors, 158^ 

Wallace (Sir William), the Scotch Ivero, 435. 

AVallachians in Greece, 355. 

Wallacks, in Bohemia, 516. 
in Hungary, 561. 

Wallenrode, grand master, 383. 



Walter, Count of Atbole, 435. 

Walter de Brienne, Duke of Athens, 355, 
594, 620. 

Walter of Eschenbach, the regicide, 552. 

Walter Furst of Uri, 552. 

Walter Pennyless, 808, 327. 

Walter de Eossil res of Acova, 358. 

Waives (Kumanian robbers), 815. 

War of the Roses, 483. 

Waraeger (Scandinavian warriors), 79, 
226. 

Warnefried (Paul), the Lombard historian, 
82. 

Warni, Saxon tribe on the Elbe, 105. 

Weilburg-Nassau family, 587. 

Welatabes, Sclavonic tribe, 188, 296, 517. 

Welfs, family of the, 896. 

Weliki Zupan (grand duke) of the Croats, 
260. 

Wenceslaus of Bohemia, 395. 

Wenceslaus, emperor, 511. 

Wendes, see Vendes. 

Werner, German Condottiere, 606. 

Werner Stauffacher of Schwyz, 552. 

Westplialian Free Courts, 5&. 

Westphalian Saxons, 173. 

Wiclitfe (John), the reformer, 433. 

Wielunzani, Polish tribe, 250. 

Wilfride of Billung, 396. 

William of Apulia, Norman historian, 
321. 

William IL, Duke of Aquitaine, 239. 

William, Archbishop of Tyre. 325. 

William the B,ad, King of Naples, 322. 

William the Conqueror, 286. 

William of Hanteville, 321. 

William of Holland, emperor, 400. 

William IV., Count of Holland, 497. 

William, Duke of Jiilich-Berg, 582. 

William the Lion, 481. 

William I., Long-sword, Duke of Nor- 
mandy, 237. 

William of Luneberg, 396. 

William the Middle, of Hesse, 540. 

William of Montferrat, 413. 

William the Pious, Count of Auvergne, 
233. 

William de la Eoehe, Duke of Athens, Zbh. 

William Eufus, King of England, 291, 434. 

William, King of Scotland, 435. 

William Tell, the Archer, 295. 

William of Thuringia, 518. 

William of Villehardoin, Prince of Morea, 
358, 424. 

Willoughbys family, 433. 

Wiltzes (Welabites), Sclavonian tribe, 188, 
296, 517. 

Winfried, see Saint Boniface, 171. 

Wislanti, Polish tribe, 250. 

Witena-gemot, the diet of the Anglo-Sax- 
ons, 290. 

Witenes, Grand Duke of Lithuania, 384. 

Witowd, Duke of Lithuania, 446. 

Witsclme'i Kaloknl (the alarm beJl) of 
Novgorod, 304. 

Wittelsbach dynasty, 523. 

Wittikind the Saxon, 174, 181. 

Wlachs (Wallachs), 83. 

Wladimir L, of Russia, 226, .302. 

Wladislaws II., Leketek of Poland, 446, 450. 

Wladislaws III., of Poland and Hungary, 
446. 

Wodan (Odin), 82. 

Wolfgang, Count of Tyrol, .523. 

Wulfried, English bishop, 282. 



Y. 

Yacub-Beu-Leith, the first of the Softarids, 
257. 

Yahya al-Kadir, Tyrant of Valencia, 820. 

Yaroslav, Prince of Eussia, 802. 

Yassi, Turkish nomades, 226. 

typhv vvp (Greek fire), 262. 

Yiiens, Chinese dynasty, 636. 

Yezdegerd, Persian king, 207. 

Ynglingar dynasty, 85, 144. 

Yoiande of Dreux, 470. 

York dynasty, 4S3. 

Tiref/K€pa(rTai, Byzantine flank-squad- 
rons, 262. 

TTrepTrepa (Byzantine gold dollars), 262. 

Yury Dolgoruki of Susdal, 804, 457. 

Yussnf Ben-Taxfin, 316, 334. 



Z. 



Zaber-Chan, 109. 

Ziihringen, house of, 895, 896, 523. 

Zainah, the Jewish maid, 202. 

Zakon y Ustcvw, Servian Code, 567. 

Zapolya dynasty of Transylvania, 559. 

Zehntman (bailift'), 118 

Zemainie, landholders in Poland, 446. 

Zenghi, atabek of Mossoul, 880. 

Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra, 11. 

Zeirid dynasty in Africa, 259, 333. 

Ziad (Dilemid) dynasty, 277. 

Ziadetallali L of Magrab, 259. 

Zianid dynasty, 644. 

Zingani, Hindoo tribe in Hungary, 561. 

Zisca, the Hussite general, 514. 

Zo3, Empress of Constantinople, 325. 

Zoroaster (Zer-dusht), 96. 209. 

Zoulus (George), Great Chan of Chazaria, 

198. 
Zultan, King of Hungary, 254. 
Zufligas family in Leon, 590. 



GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX. 



THE NUMBERS INDICATE THE PARAGRAPHS. 



A. 



Aabo, iu Finnland, 301, 442. 

bishopric, 439. 
Aalands Islands, 225. 
Aar. river, 523, 549, 553. 
Aargau, in Burgundy, 246, 250, 512, 523, 551. 
Aarluius, 222, 294. 
Aba-Ujvar, comitat, 558. 
Abbatis Villa (Abbeville), 232, 30T, 496. 
Abdera, 30. 

Aberbrothoo, abbey, 287. 
Aberoorn castle, 436. 
Aberdeen, 287. 

college, 435. 
Aberfraw in Anglesea, 103, 432. 
Abrincii, See Avranches. 
A bus (Tyue), river, 73. 
Abutliur. See Butera, 322. 
Abydos, 22, 268, 629. 
Acarnania, 360, 619, 621. 
Acerenza, 186, 322. 

archiepisoopacy, 617. 
Acerra, county of, 822. 
Achaia, principality, 336, 362, 619. 
Aclien. See Aix-la-Chapelle. 
Achova in the Morea, 196, 358. 
Achris (Ochrida), capital, 824. 

lake, 624. 
Acincum (Buda), 45, 47. 
Acre (Accon, Ptolemais). See Saint Jean 

d'Acre, 342. 
Acro-Corinthiis, 40, 857. 
Actium, 38. 
Adala, 629. 

Adana in Cillcia, 266, 327, 349. 
Addua, river, 130. 
Aden, 3, 203. 

Adjerbeidjan (Atropatene), 209. 
Adifa, mines of, 578. 
Adige, river, 52, 414. 
Adrauiyttian gulf, 268. 
Adrani, county, 599. 
Adria, 153. 

Adrianople, 30, 136, 632. 
Ma. See Tripolis in Africa, 61. 
.lEgeri, lake, ^i. 
jEgina, bishopric, 35.5. 
jEgyptus Propria, 16, 
jElia Capitolina, 11. 
yEmathia (Upper Albania), 35, 624. 
^Emilia, province, 53, 152. 
jEnus (Inn), river, 132, 161. 
^thllna:a-eig (Athelney), 221. 
^tolia, 360, 621. 
A'fghanistan, 275. 
Africa Propria, 60. 
Agadez, county of, 318. 
Agadir in Morocco, 646, 
Agathopolis in Thrace, 352, 633. 
Agde, bishopric of, 191, 392. 
Agen, city, 893, 473. 

bishopric of, 391, 510. 
Agenois, province, 393, 478. 
Aggershuus, 443. 
Agincourt (Azincoiirt), 478. 
Agirra castle, 599. 
Agram, bishopric, 571. 
Agricidttire in Old England, 290. 
Agrigento, 599. 
Ahvvaz, 211. 
Ajaccio, 610. 

Ajalon in Mount Ephrahim, 842. 
Ajas (Giazza) in Cillcia, 349. 
Aidindchik (Cyzicus), 629. 
Ailah (Akabah), 202, 387, 342. 
Aile, barony, 413. 
Ainegol (Mirror Sea). 628. 
Ain-Shames (Heliopolis), 366. 
Ain-es-Sultan, at Jericho, 340. 
Ainos (Ainon), 269, 353, 623. 
Aintab, castle, 346, 631. 
Aire, territory, 147. 
Aix (AquiE Sextiaj), 69, 246, 503. 
Aix-Ia-Chapelle, 171, 246, 533, 544. 
Aiznaddin, battle-field of, 204. 
Akbuk, 628. 
Akjerman, 570. 
Akova, barony of, 196, 35S. 
'AKp6voKis of Constantinople, 7. 

of Athens, 355, 634. 
Akhissar, 629. 
Ak-Liman, castle, 362. 
Akschai, 629. 



Aksher (Philomelion), 327, 629. 

Alabanda, 264, 629. 

Alacab, 591. 

Aladj.vHissar in Servia, 566. 

Alainut (Vulture's nest), castle of, 364. 

Ala^chehr (Philadelphia), 629. 

Alava, province, 257, 818, 5SS. 

Alba Fucentia, 56, 424. 

Alba Graica or Bulgarise. See Belgrade. 

Alba Petra, 624. 

Alba Specula (Blanchegarde), castle of, 340. 

Alba Transylvaniae, bishopric, 571. 

Albania, 38, 360, 619, 624, 635. 

Albano, bishopric, 616. 

Albanon, fortress, 624. 

Albara, castle of, 346. 

AlbaiTacin, 597. 

bishopric, 600. 
Al-Batayeh on the Eujjhrates, 279. 
Albavcin at Granada, 004. 
Albe'nga, 610. 
AlbigiB. See Alby. 
Albigensis Pagus, disti*!t, 147. 
Albigeois, viscounty of, 242. 
Albon (Dauphiny), county of, 389. 
Albox, border castle, 604. 
Albret, viscounty of, 242, 481, 505. 
Albuera, 592. 
Albuquerque, 58t. 
Alby, county, 117, 243. 

bishopric of, 391, 493, 510. 
Alcah'i de Henares, 5S8. 
Alcintara, castle of, 317. 
Alcaziir-al-Kebir, 582, 646. 
Alcazar-do-Sal, 576, 581. 
Alcazar-es-Seghir, 582. 
Alcobafa, abbey, 581. 
Alcobillas, 598. 
Alcoll, fortress, 599. 
Alcozer in Valencia, 320. 
Alcoutim, castle, 582. 
Alcoy, castle, 604. 
Al-Djesirah (Mesopotamia), 205. 
Al-Dschezair. See Algiers. 
Alegrete, 581. 

Alemania, duchy, 160, 176, 250. 
Alemtejo, province, 574, 581. 
Alenfon (Alencio), county, 236, 393. 

duchy, 490, 505, 508. 
Alenqucr, 581. 
Aleppo. See Halep. 
Aleria, in Corsica, 58, 610. 
Alesatia. See Alsace. 
Alessandria della Paglia, 412, 609. 
Ale.ssio (Lissus), 624, 6.35. 
Alcth in Languedoc, bishopric, 510. 
Aletri, bishopric, 615. 
Aletum (Saint Malo), 157. 
Alexandria, in Egypt, 16, 194, 206, 866, 596, 

640. 
Al-Faghar, province, 575. 
Alfarrobeira, river, 581. 
Algarve, kingdom, 573, 582, 583, 646. 
Algeziras, 591, 608. 
Algiers, 333, 644. 
Algorrabilas, 592. 
Albania (Al-Hamam, the ancient Artigi 

Julienses), 604. 
Alhambra, palace at Granada, 604. 
Aliacnr, 577. 
Alicante, 591, 598. 
Alicata, 599. 
Aljubarrota, 579, 581. 
Al-Kassr-Ibn-Abu-Danis, province, 576. 
Alkmaar, 497. 
Allier (Elaver), river, 469. 
Allubiah (Lubieh),ou the hills of Hattin,343. 
Almada, 578, 581. 
Al-Madain, 96, 207. 
Al-Mankeb (Almiuiecar), 604. 
Alraazan, 590. 
Almeida, castle, 5S0. 
Almeria, 318,593, 604, 
Almina, 682. 

Almona ( Altmubl), river, 109, 109 b. 
Almoural, 574. 
Al-Magreb, 334, 642, 
Almuilecar. See Al-Mankeb. 
Al-Nedjed, central Ar-abia, 200. 
Alnwick, 431, 434 
Alost, 497. 
Alpes Maritimffi, 69. 
Alpheus, river, 858. 
Alsace, 175, 395, 486, 497. .529, 589. 



Al-Sared (Sarepta), .346. 

Altavilla (Hauteville), 236. 

Altai, mount, 885, 636, 638. 

Altdorf in Uri, 552. 

Alteiiburg, castle, 519. 

Altenstein, castle, 449. 

Altinum, 52. 

Altmark, 898, 517. 

Altmuhl, river, 172. 

Alto-Pascio, castle, 420. 

Alturgens (Korkatch), in Khowaresm, 276. 

Aluta, river, 254, 815, 559, 561, 570. 

Alverca, .581. 

Alxarquia, deflle, 604, 

Alzuntia (Alzette), river, 248. 

Amalfl, duchy, 153, 270, 321, .339. 

archiepisocpacv, 617. 
Amanus, mount, 14, 204, 266, 346. 
Amasia, 28. 264, 681. 
Amastris (Amastra), 874, 626. 
Amathus (Limasol), 267, 850. 
Ambar, early capital of the Abbasid caliphs, 

203. 
Amberieux, castle, 500. 
Amborg, 521. 
Ambiani. See Amiens. 
Ambracian gulf, 38, 369. 
Amelia, bishopric, 616. 
America, discovery of, 224. 
Amfingen, near Miihlbach, on the Inn, ,527. 
Ainida (Diarbekir), 18, 205, 681. 
Amiens, 114, 233, 807. 

county of, 388, 496. 
bishopric of 390. 
Amisos, in Pontus, 374, 626. 
Amiternum (Amiterno), 56. 
Amol, on the Caspian, 209. 
Amorgos, island, 800. 
Amphipolis, 269. 
Amphissa (Salona), 269. 
Ampurdan, eountv, 597. 
Ampurias, 184, 243. 
Amsterdam, 497. 
Anafa, 582. 
Anagnia, 422. 

bishopric, 616. 
Anaphi, island, 361. 
Anas (Guadiana), river, 65. 
Anatolico in Acarnania, 607. 
Anazarbus (Anavarza) in Aa-menia, 14, 349. 
Anchialos (Ahiali), 633. 
Ancona, 153, 311. 422, 618. 

bishopric, 616. 
Ancyra (Ankyra). See Angora. 
Andakieh, in Syria. See Antioch. 
Andalusia, (Andalos), 65, 216, 258, 281, 816, 

334, 588, 591. 
Andechs, county of, 396, 525. 
Andegavi. See Angers. 
Andelaus (Andelot), 147. 
Andinitza, deflle, 373. 
Andorre, valley, 243. 
Andria, coui.ty, 822. 
Andravida, capital, 358. 

bishopric, 357. 
Andros, island, 859, 622. 
Androussa, 858. 
Angermanland, 441. 
Angermanna Elv, 225. 
Angers, city and bishopric of, 111, 288, 390. 
Angeln, in Schleswig, 84, 222. 
Anglesea, island, 300. 
Angora. 27, 365, 630, 689. 
Angouleme, county, 148, 240, 393, 472. 

bLshopric, 891. 
Angoumois, county, 240, 472, 494. 
Angra, bishopric in Terceira. 585. 
Angus, county, 287. 
Anhalt, principality, 586. 
Anjou, county, 238, 387, 394, 465, 486. 

duchy, 502. 
Anisiburg (Ens), 250. 
Anisiis (Ens), river, 155, 161. 
Annaberg, 519. 

Annandale, viscounty, 287, 288. 
Annecy, lake, 244, 418. 
Ansbach, 541. 
Antakia (Antioch), 204. 
Antalia. See Attalia. 
Antequera (Antikira), 604. 
Antibaris, archiepiscopacy, 571, 624. 
Antibes, ancient bishopric, 392. 
Anti-Lebanon, mount, 11, 887. 
Antinoe, 16. 



Antioch in Syria, 12, 194, 204, 281, 386, 346, 
362. 1 . . . 

Antiochia Pisidis (Ak-Scbehr) in Phrygia, 

19,264,327,629. 
Anti-Paros. island, 361. 
Anti-Taurus, mountain, 266. 
Antwerp, 403. 

Anversa la Normanna, 321, 615. 
Anverskov, abbey, 293. 
Aosta (Aususta), bishopric, 401. 
Apamea (Famieh), 12, 264, .346. 
Aphrodisias (Kis-Liman), in Cilicia, 268. 
Aphrodisias (Gheira), in Caria. 21, 264. 
Apollonia in Bithynia, '264. 
Apollonia in Cyrenaica, 17. 
Apollonia in Epirus, 279. 
Apollonia in Macedonia, 269. 
Apollonia (Sizeboli), in Thrace, 625, 638. 
Appenzel, canton, 550. 
Apsos, river, 624. 
Apt, bishopric, 392 
Apulia (Puglia), province, 57. 

duchy, 321. 
Arras, bishopric, 890. 
Aquae Grani. See Aix la Chapelle, 171. 
Aquai SextiiiB (Aix), 69, 147, 244. 
Aquila, in the Abruzzi, 615. 
Aquileja, 52, 81. 

ai-chbishopric, 606, 617. 
Aquinum, county, 322. 
Aquincum (Acincum), 47. 
Aquisgranum. See Aix la Chapelle, 171. 
Aqnitania, 68, 112, 154, 228, 240, 387, 471. 
Aracena, 591. 
Arad, comitat, 558. 
Aral, lake, 637. 
Ararat, mount, 208. 
Arabia, 200. 

Arabian empire, 15.3, 197 — 212, 274. 
Aragon, county, 257, 317. 

kingdom of, 244, 281, 318, 594, 597, 

605. 
Arak, Ancient Media, 210. 
Aral, lake, 276, 326, 687. 
Aran (Georgia), 208. 
Arar (Saone). river, 70. 
Arausio (Orange), 129. 
Arayolos, county, 584. 
Arbedo, battle field, 609. 
Arbe, island, 323. 
Arbia, river, 420. 
Arblay. barony, 506. 
Arborea, province, 323, 599. 

archiepiscopacy, 617. 
Arcadia in Peloponnesus, 196, 621. 
Arcadia, in Egypt, 16. 
Areadiopolis, 269. 

Archipelago (Naxos), duchy, 836, 618, 622. 
Arcona, in Eiigen, 107, 295, 377. 
Arcos, county, 589. 
Ardennes, forest, 246. 
Ardmacha (Armagh), 100. 
Ardres Castle, in Calaisis, 432. 
Arelate (Burgundy), kingdom, 246, 389, 

400. 
Arelate (Aries), metropolitan see, 892. 
Arelatensis Provincia, 129. 
Arevaci, in Spain, 123. 
Arevalo, 590. 
Arezzo, 405, 415, 419, 612. 
Arga, river, 1S4. 
Argathelia (Argyle), lOl. 
Argsus, mount, 26, 631. 
Argelata, county in Eomagna, 410. 
Argenta, county, 422. 
Argentina Civitas, Argentoratum (Strass- 

burg). 71, 175. 
Argolls, 196. 
Argonne, forest, 486. 
Argos, city of, 40, 269, 356, 858, 607, 621. 
Arjona, 5S7. 
Arjona, duchy, 588. 
Arkadia (Cyparissia), city, 356. 
Arkenholme, in Eskdale, 288, 486. 
Aries, city, 69, 246. 
Armagh, 100, 819, 429. 

archbishopric of, 2S.3. 
Armagnac, faction, 476, 484, 494. 
Armagnac, county, 242, 473, 481, 505, 508. 
Armenia Antiqua, 25, 95, 208, 266. 
Armenia (Cilicia), kingdom, 336. .349, 640. 
Armorica (Brittany), 70, 111, 148, 146, 157. 
Armoricanus Tractus 67. 
Armyrns, 373. 



222 



GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX. 



Arnaut-Ili (Albania), 635. 

Arnedo, 590. 

Arnhem. 497. 

Arosia (Aarhuus), bishopric, 222, 291. 

Arrebate (Arras), 232. 

Aracliova, 196. 

Arran, island, 43T. 

Arras, 496. 

Arsui; in Palestine. 842. 

Arta in Epirus, 607, 621, 635. 

Artasia, castle, 846. 

Artaxata (Arpek), 95. 

Artois, county, 393, 485, 490. 

Artopolion, in Constantinople, 7. 

Artornish, castle, 2S6. 

Arva, comitat, 557. 

Arverna (Alvernia), province, 147. 

Arvernos (Clermont), 112, 117. 

Arzen-Kum (Erzeram), 208. 

Arzilla, 582, 045. 

Asafl, 582, 046. 

Asa-gaard (Azof), 85. 

Asburgh (Asciburgium), 71. 

Ascalon, in Palestine, 204, 335, 341. 

Ascanian, lake in Asia Minor, 327. 

Ascliatfenburg 513. 

Ascliersleben, 586. 

Asculum, county, 322 

Ashbuna. See Lisbon. 

Ashby-canal, 434. 

Ashmuni, in Ejrypt, 366. 

Asia Propria, 22. 

AsiaJia Dicecesis, 18. 

Asinelli, tower in Bologna, 410. 

Asker-el-Serramenra, 2L'7, 274. 

Asmiltl, convent, 294. 

Aspalathns. See Spalatro, 46, 168. 

Aspendns (Manavgat), 19. 

Aspahan. See Ispahan, 210. 

Asramosata, in Mesopotamia, 266. 

Assandun (Assingdon), on the Sture, 289. 

Assissi, on mount Apennine, 422. 

bisho|iric, 616. 
Assos, 268. 

Assuan, in Egypt, 366. 
Astarac (Astrac), county, 242, 481, 505. 
Asiacus, 265. 

Asterabad, on the Caspian, 209. 
AsU (Astai, 51, 405, 411, 494, 611. 
Astorga, bishopric, 593. 
Astrakan, Chanate, 466, 460. 
Astura, 422. 

Asturias (Las), 217, 255, 316, 588. 
Ataqiiines, 592. 
Atel (city of Balangiar), 193. 

(Volga), river, 90. 
Aternus (Pescara), river, 56, 16S. 
Ath, 497. 

Athana (Aden), 3, 203. 
Atboy, convention of, 283. 
Athenal, in Asia Minor, 3T4. 
Athens, in Hellas, 40. 

duchy, 336, 355, 362, 594, 618, 619, 
620. 
Athesis (Adige), river, 52. 
Athos, mount. See Hagion Oro.5, 269. 
Atienza, 590. 

Atlas, mount, 140, 334, 582, 646. 
Atlith (Castle of the Pilgiims), 342. 
Atmeidan (Hippodrome), at Constantino- 
ple, 633. 
Atre, bishopric, 391. 
Attalia (Satalieh), 19, 267, 629. 
Attica, in Hellas, 269, 355. 634 
Attigny, district, 388. 
Attinghausen, county, 548. 
Attiniacum (Attigny), 181. 
Atura. See Aire. 
Aturis (Adour), river, 242, 391. 
Auch (Elusa), 68, 112, 471. 
Audenarde, 497. 
Augsburg, 250. 

bishopric, 401. 
republic, 402, 544. 
Augusta Emerita (Merida), 124. 
Augnsta, county in Sicily, 599. 
Augusta Vermanduorum (Saint Quentin), 

233. 
Augustaeuni, in Constantinople, 7. 
Angustamnica (Augustanice), 16. 
Augustodunum. See Autun. 
Augustovva, 449. 
Anion Cilicius, 14. 
Aumale, county, 490. 
Auuix, county, 241, 472. 
Aarea Vallis, monastery, 391. 
Auray, 470. 

Aurelianum (Orleans), 111. 
Auriquium. See Ourique. 
Aussig, 515. 

Auseba, in Asturia, mountain, 217. 
Aussone, 497. 

Auster (Austrasia Propria), 163. 
Austerlitz, 167. 

AustSrdinga, east frith of Iceland, 299. 
Austrasia (Osterreich), 147, 154, 163, 171. 
Austria (in Lombardy), 152. 
Ausb-ia, archduch}', 179, 250. 399, 522, 523. 
Austria Eegni (Venetia), 152. 
Austunum (Autun), 239. 
Authie, river, 474. 

Autissiodorura. See Auxerre, 166, 238. 
Autun, 70. 

bishopric, 392. 
Anvcrgne (Alvernia), county, 240, 387, 
894,468. 

duchy, 500. 
Auxerro (Autissiodorum), 116, 238, 497. 

bishopric of, 391. 
Avaria or empire of the Avars, 149. 
Avaria(IIunnia), province of Charlemagne, 

179. 
Avaricum (Bourgos), 68. 
Avars, Tartaro-Hunnish nation, 93, 109. 
Avarus (Evre), river, 116. 
Avellum county, 322. 
Avenio. See Avignon, 
Aversa (Atella), county, 322. 
Avesnes, 497. 



Aveyron, river, 242, 473. 
Avignon, 119. 147, 246, 502, 613. 

bishopric, 392. 
Avila, 588, 590, 593. 
Avosta (Aosta), duchy, 413. 
Avranchcs (Abrinca), 111, 147, 490. 

bishoi)ric of, 390. 
Ayasuk (Ephesus), 22, 629. 
Ayerbe, county, 697. 
Ay bar, 602. 
Ayamonte, 577. 

marquisate, 588. 
Aydone, county, 590. 
Ayllon, 590. 
Ayr, county, 2SS. 
Aytona, barony, 597. 
Axelhuus, castle, 293, 545. 
Azadir, 582. 
Azamor, 5S2. 
Azevedos, 584. 
Azof (Asow, Asagaard, Tana), 85, 610. 

sea of (Palus Maeotis), 610. 
Azores, islands, 573, 582. 



B. 



Ba'albek (Heliopolis), 279. 344, 639. 
Bab-el-Abuab (Dervond), 96, 208. 
Babylon (Cairo), 366. 
Babylonian Irak, 203. 
Bacs, county, Hungary, 45, 560. 
Bacs, comitat, 657. 
Badajoz, 334, 576, 588, 693. 
Baden, county, 397. 

margraviate, 538. 
Badenftld, Saxony, 174. 
Baden weiler, 538. 
Badia, desert, 200. 
Badon-Hill, near Bath, 103. 
Badslia. See Beja. 
Baena, county, 688. 
BfEtica, 65. 

Bfetis (Guadalquivir), river, 65. 
Baeza, 604. 

Baft'a, lordship in Syria, 344. 
Baffo (Paphos), on Cyprus, 350. 
Bagdad (city of peace), on the Tigris, 274, 

329. 
Bagnacavallo, county, 422, 607. 
Bagnarea. bishopric. 616. 
Bahr-Ak.abah, gulf Of the Bed sea, 202, 640. 
Bahr-Alakdar (Persian gulf), 203, 211. 
Bahr Cliozar (Caspian sea), 208. 
Bahr-elFars (Persian gulf), 211. 
Bahr Kendan (Lake Spaute), 209. 
Bahr-Kolzom (Ked sea), 200. 
Bahr Nitesh (Pontus Euxinus), 208. 
Bahr-Tenis (lake of Menzalch), 366. 
Bahrein, on the Persian gulf, 203. 
Bajazid, 208. 
Baiburd, defile of, 374. 
Baikal, lake, 636. 
Bajoca (Bayeux), 111, 
Biiireuth, 541. 
Bakony, forest, 557. 
Balanea, castle, 364. 
Balangiar (Astracan). 193. 
Balastro, bishopric, 600. 
Balaton, lake, 557. 
Bi'ile. See Basle. 

Baleares Insulae, 66, 139, 151, 216, 259. 
Balesh. See Velez-Malaga. 
Balkh (Bactra), 212, 275, 385. 
Balkan, mountains, 555, 632. 
Ballenstedt, 536. 
Balta 'as, 692. 
Bamberg, bishopric, 249, 399, 401. 

republic, 402. 
Bambyce, 12. 
Banat of Temesvar, 562. 
Bangor, bishopric, 103, 433. 
Banjaluka, 566, 635. 
Banias (Paneas), castle, 344. 
Banias (Valenia), castle of the Assassins, 

364. 
Bannockburn, battlefield of, 435. 
Bar, duchy, 486, 629. 
Bar-le-duc, capital. 486. 
Bar-sur-Seine, castellany, 497. 
Baranyvar, comitat, 557. 
Barbana (Bqjana), river, 6. 
Barbastro, 3i8. 
Barbiano, county, 422. 
Barca jCyrcnaica), in Africa, 640. 
Barcellos, 680, 584. 
Barcelona, city, 403, 597, 

county, 184, 243, 257, 388, 597. 
bishopric, 600. 
Barcinona. See Barcelona. 
Bardenea, monastery, in East Anglia, 433. 
Bardone (Bard), castle, 413. 
Bari (Barium), in Apulia, 270, .321, 014. 
Barnct, battlefield, 434. 
Barnim, province, 312. 
Barrois (duchy of Bar), 486, 503, 529. 
Bars, comitat, 557. 
Earth, 378. 

Bartia, district in Prussia, 880. 
Bas, county in Sardinia, 599. 
Bas Valais (Lower Wallis), 551. 
Basantello, 262, 270. 
Basatha. See Baza. 
Basentius, river, 270. 
Basllicata, province, 233, 270. 
Basle, bishopric, 401. 

city, 404, 548. 

canton, 560. 
Bassano. 414, 608. 
Basse Marche, county . f, 289. 
Bassiny, lordship, 529. 
Bassorah (Basrah), 207, 279. 
Bastia, 610. 

Batava Castra (Passau), 71. 
Batavian Island (Holland), 71. 
Batalha, convent. 581. 
Bathalius. See Badajoz. 
Bathonia (Bath), bishopric, 433. 
Bathys, in Lazica, 626. 



Battle- Abbey, on the field of Hastings, 291. 
Bau, in Schleswig, battle of, 444. 
Biiutzen, peace of, 309. 
Bavaria, 149, 154, 161,175, 

duchy, 250, 309, 398, 522, 527. 
Bayeux (Bajoca), 111, 490. 
bishopric of, 390. 
Bayonne, bishopric of, 391. 

city, 403. 
Baza, 604. 

Bazana, district in Lombardy, 407. 
Bazas, bishopric, 891. 
Beam, viscounty, 242, 473, 494. 
Beata Maria de Meillerio, monastery, 390. 
Beaton's Mill, 436. 
Beaucaire. 493. 
Bcauce, 487. 
Beauge, Seigneury, 413. 
Beaujolais, seigniory, 500. 
Beaumont, county, 490, 494. 
Beauvais, city of, 307. 

bishopric of, 388, 390. 
seigniory, 235. 
Beauvaisis, 469, 

Bebbanburgh (Bamborough), 143. 
Bedr, battle of, 202. 
Begia. See Beja. 
Behring Straits, 460. 
Beia, 676, 681. 
Beiburt, 631. 
Beilan-Boghas, .346. 
Beira, province, 580. 

Beit-Allah (House of God), at Mecca, 201. 
Beit-el-Mukkadas. See Jerusalem, 204, 

338. 
Beirut, 344, 

Beisan ( Scy thopolis), barony of, 343. 
Bekes, cimiitat. .558. 
Belad al Djebail (Media), 210. 
Belad Laun (Armenia), 208. 
Belatha, province, 577. 
Belbeis, 360, 
Belch. See Elvas. 
Belem, near Lisbon, 581. 
Belestina. 373. 

Belfort (Es Shukif), castle, 344. 
Belfast, 429. 
Belgica, 71. 

Belgrade (Singidunura), 34, 314, 253, 566. 
Bella Stella, monastery, 390. 
Bellac, capital, 239. 
Bellarad, bishopric, 571. 
Bellesme, county, 230, 
Belleville, seigneury, 472. 
Belley, bishopric, 392. 
Bellinzona, vallcygpf, 564. 
Bellosana, monastery, 390. 
Belluno, 607. 

Belogi-ad (Zara Vecchia), 563. 
Belokome, in Phrygia, 628, 
Beludshisl;an, 637. 
Belvoir(Elis), 356. 
Belvoir (Kankab), castle of, 343. 
Belz, principality, 451, 563. 
Benacus Lacus (lago di Garda), 152. 
Benchor, monastery, 141. 
Benearnia (Beam), 147. 
Benevento, .57. 

archiepiscopacy, 617. 
duchy of, 152, 186, 251, 321, 
422. 444, 613. 
Ben-Hinnom, valley, 338. 
Benthem, county. 542. 
Berat (Bcligrad), 624. 
Berdha'a (Bakavi), on the Caspian, 208. 
Beregh, comitat, 558. 
Berezina, river, 452. 
Bergamo, repuljlic, 409, 607. 
Bergen (province in Norway), 44-3. 

city, 223, 403, 443. 
Bergen, in Hainaut. See Mons. 
Bergomum (Bergamo), duchy, 152, 405. 
Berkeley, castle. 4-34 
Berlad, river, 570. 
Borlanga, in Castile, 590. 
Beriin, 398, 517. 
Bernau, 517. 
Bernburg, 536. 
Berno, city, 400. 

canton, 649. 
Berner Alps, ,549. 

Bernicia (Northumberland), 104, 143. 
Bernstedt, 517. 
Berones, in Spain, 123. 
Berri, county, 238, 465, 480, 491. 508. 
Berwick, city and county, 288, 431. 
Berytus, Beirut, 11, 344. 
Besa (Antinoe), in Egypt, 16. 
Besanfon (Vesontio), 71, 246, 894, 496. 

archbishopric, 401. 
Bessestadir, 299. 
Bethania, near Jerusalem, 340. 
Bethencourt, 478. 
Betldehem, near Jerusalem, 11. 
Bethlehem, near London, 434. 
Bethlehem, in Portugal. See Belem. 
Betshean, (Tell Beissm), 11, 343. 
Bevern, 497. 
Bezalu (Comit. Bisuldensis, Besahi), connty 

244, 318, 597. 
Beziers, 124 157. 

county, 318, 493. 
bishopric, 392. 
Biala, 452. 

Biarmeland (Permia), 86, 226. 
Bihar, comitat, 568. 
Bibbiena, on mount Apennine, 422. 
Biel, 551. 
Bielograd, 457. 
Bjelosersk, principality, 468. 

republic, 459. 
Bies-Bosch, 497. 
Bjeshezk, principality, 460. 
Bielsk, 449. 
Bigha, 629. 

Bigorre, county, 242, 473. 
Biledshik (Belokome), in Phrygia, 628. 
Billakos, river, 265. 
Biminacium (Gradistic), 34. 



Binasco, 408. 

Bic'irneborg, 301, 442. 

Bjiirkii, in Sweden, 190. 

Bjorgvvinn (Bergen), 223. 

Bira, castle, 346. 

Birs, river, 553. 

Biscaya, 257. 

Bisinianum, 270. 

Bistriz, comitat, 559. 

Bistritza. i iver, 570. 

Biterrae (Beziers), 124, 157. 

Bithynia, 28. 327, 370, 62S. 

Bituriges (Bituricse). See Bourges, 68, 

112, 116. 
Bizerta. See Hippo-Zarytos, 213. 
BKaxfpvai, palace in Constantinople, T, 

326, 351. 355, 633. 
Blachia (Thessaly), 324 
Blackheath, near London, 434. 
Blackenburg, in Saxony, 310. 
Black Russia, 452. 
Blackwall, near London, 434. 
Blancalanda, monastery, 390. 
Blanchcgarde, castle, 341. 
Blankenburg, county, 642. 
Blavet, river, 470.' 
Blekinga-ey, on the Baltic, 222, 292. 
Blekinge, province of Denmark, 222, 295, 

378. 
Blendenburg, capital, 562. 
Blois, county, 238, 3S8, 491, 492, 505. 
Bloreheath, 434. 
Boandus (Boyno), river, 100. 
Bobbio. 412, 413, 609. 
Bobruisk, 452. 
Bobry, 452. 
Boch'nia, 450. 
Bocholt (Buchholz), 174 
Boco, cape in Sicily, 58. 
Boden-see, 176, 396. 
Bodonitza, margraviate, 355, 358. 
Bodrog, river, 558. 
Bodrogh, comitat, .657. 
Biiheim (Bohemia), 80, 107. 
Biibmer Wald (Bohemian forest), 250. 
Biihmish-Brod, 51.'j, 
Boiotia. 196, 269. 

duchy, 336, 355, 362, 594, 018, 619, 
620, 634. 
Bogesund, 439. 
Bohemia, SO, 107. 

duchy, 250. 
kingdom, 329. 
electorate, 513, 514. 
Bqjoaria. See Bavaria. 
Boi()henum (Bohemia), 81, 107. 
Boitro (Innstadt), 48. 
Bojano, county, 822. 
Bo'iodurum (Innstadt), 48, 132. 
Bokhara, 212, 275. 385. 
Bolghar Dagh, Cilician pass, 266, 631, 640. 
Bologna, 153, 408, 410, 613. 

archbishopric, 617. 
Bona (Hippo Regius), 62, 213, 322, 643. 
Bonna (Bonn), on the Rhine, 71. 
Bononia (Boulogne sur mer), 181; 
Bononia. See Bologna. 
Borbetomagus (Worms), 71. 
Bordeaux (Burdigala), 68, 112, 115, 241, 
403, 471, 481, 484 

episcopal see, 510. 
Bordelais, district, 481, 484. 
Bordshila-el-Baljul, 604. 
Borgland, 294 
Borissow, 452. 
Bormida, river, 412. 
Borna, 619. 
Bornhbved, 376, 377. 
Bornholm (Borgunderholm), island, 81, 

222, 292. 
Borough-Bridge, near Burton, 434. 
Borsod, comitat, 558. 
Bosnia, kingdom, 868. 563, 565. 

Turkisli Ejalet, 635. 
Bosna, river, 168, 565. 
Bosna-SeraT, 635. 
Bosiini, 628. 

Bosphorus (Thracian), 7, 325. 
Bosphorus (Taurian), 226. 
Bosphorus (Panticapceum), city, 270, 371. 
Bosporus. See Bosphorus. 
Bostra (Basra), 11, 204 
Bosworth, 483, 434 
Bothfeld, in Saxony, 310. 
Bothnian Gulf, 301. 
Botrion, in Syria, 345. 
Bouillon, duchy, 489. 
Boulogne, county, 232, 468, 484. 
Bourbon, seigniory, 238, 469. 
Bourbon I'Archambaud, seigniory, 238, 499. 
Bourbonnais, duchy, 469, 500. 
Boui'ges (Bituricse), 68, 112, 116, 306, 388, 
465, 480. 

viscounty, 238. 
bishopric, 391. 
Bovianum, gastaldate, 152. 
Bovines, in Flanders, 467. 
Boyne, river, 100. 
Braavalla, battle-field of, 190. 
Brabant (Lower Lorraine), duchy of, 397, 

400, 497. 
Bracara. See Braga. 
Braclaw, province in Litluiania, 452. 
Braga, 66, 2.55, 580. 
Bragaufa, city. 680. 

duchy, 584 
Brainc-Valeiin, county, 489. 
Brancalcone. county, 422. 
Brandenburg, margraviate, 398. 
electorate, 513, 517 
bishopric, 401. 
Branitzowa, fortress, 368, 666. 
Brannibor (Brandenburg), city, 517. 
Branxholm (Branxome), border-castle, 288. 
Brassa, island, 323. 
Braunsberg. 449. 
Bray, in Ireland, 429. 

Brechin (Brechinum), suffragan of St. 
Andrews. 287. 



GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX. 



223 



Breda, in Brabant, 49T. 

Brei;entz, lake of (Boden-See), 396. 

Bregetio (Szony), 47. 

Bi-fidljord (western coast), of Iceland, 299. 

Breisga.i, 397. 

Bremon (Bremen), city of, 174, 222, 810, 

402, 545, 546. 
Bremen, archbishopric, 401. 
Brescia, 405, 409, 607, 609. 
Breslau (Wra^^lau), 250, 312, 516. 
Bresle, river, 236. 
Bresse, lordship, 413, 468. 
Bretagne (Brittany), county, 237. 

duchy, 470, 486. 
Bretisiny, 462, 464. 
Bretland. See England, 282. 
Bridge-Castle at Antioch, 846. 
Brie, county, 46S. 
Brieg, 516. 

Brienne, in Champagne, 488. 
Briguais, 469. 

Brindiji, in Puglia, 362, 607, 614. 
Britannia Komana, 73, 111, 
Brittany (Bretagne, 'the ancient Armcrica), 

146, 157. 228, 387. 
Britonoro, county, 422. 
Brix, battle of, 515. 
Brixen, bishopric, 401 
Brixia (Brescia), duchy of, 152. 
Brumsebni, treaty of, 441. 
Brondolo, castle, 603. 
Broniberg, 449. 

Bruchium, quarter of Alexandria, 16. 
Briinn (Brno), capital, 516. 
Bruges, 307, 403, 467, 496. 
Brunanburgh, near Lincoln, 221. 
Brunkeberg, battle of, 440. 
Bri.nnen. in Schwyz, 552. 
Brunswick-Luneburg, duchy, 398, 522, 533. 
Brunswick, freetown, 402. 
Brusa (Prusa), in Bithynia, 351, 264, 627, 

628. 
Bruttium, province, 57. 
Bruxelles, 497. 
Bryneich (Bernicia), of Northumberland, 

143. 
Brzesc> province, 449. 

city, 452. 
Buccleuch, border castle, 288. 
Bucli, captalat of, in Guyenne, 484. 
Buda (Aciucum), 45, 47. 
Buda-Pesth, 33, 149, 253, 562. 
Biidingen, county, 542. 
Budja, in Africa, 333, 644. 
Budrun, Halicarnassus, 21, 360, 629. 
Bug, river, 312, 449. 
Bugey, county, 413, 468. 
Buitrago, 590. 

BowKoAfMi/, palace in Constantinople, 7. 
Bukowina, province, 451, 559. 
Bulair, castle, 632. 
Bulak, in Egypt, 366, 
Bulga (Volga), river, 108. 
Bukarest, 5T0. 

Bulgaria, kingdom, 195, 324, 863, 367, 563. 
Bulgar-Ili, Turkish province, 568, 635. 
Buoncunvento, in Tuscany, 420, 511. 
Burcharui (I'urchena), 604. 
Burdigala (Bordeaux), 68, 240. 
Eurdigalensis Pagiis (district of Bordeaux), 

147." 
Buren, on the Eeuis, 810. 
Bui garia, district, 407. 
Burgas (Uebeltos), 633. 
Burglanum (Borgland), in Jutland, 222, 294. 
Biirglen. in Uri, 552. 
Burgas, city and county, 256, 58S, 589, 590, 

592, 599. 
Burgunderholm (Bornholm), 81, 222. 
Bnrgundia t'isjurana. 228. 
" Trasjurana, 228. 

" Minor, 396, 400, 548. 

Burgundia;, regnum (Arelate), 246. 
Burgundy (Burgund), kingdom, 148, 154, 

157, 182, 21S, 888. 
Burgundy, county of (Frauche comte), 

238, 468, 485, 496. 
Burgundy (Bourgogne), duchy of, 239, 306, 

393, 465, 4S5, 496. 
Burgundy (Upper). See Franche ComtiS. 
Buria, castle, in Palestine, 343. 
Burnarbadje, (Troy), 269. 
Burzcniand, district, 559, 561. 
Butentinus, river, 57. 
Busk, city in Poland, 451. 
Busta Gothorwn (Gallorum) battlefield, 

139. 
Buka'a, valley of Baalbek, 345. 
Buttauf, valley in Galilee, 343. 
Bute, island, 437. 
Butera, principality, 599. 
BQtow, 535. 
Buthrinto. 607. 
Byblus (Gebail), 345. 
Byzacena, province, 61. 
Byzacium (Kabes), 61, 213. 
Byzia, in Thrace, 353. 
Byzantium (Constantinople), 7, 136. 
Byzantine empire, 153, 218, 201, 281, 824, 

363, 370, 618, 625. 
Byzantine monuments, 633. 



C. 

Ca'aba, at Mecca, 201. 

Cabadonga, grotto, 217. 

Cabes, near Tunis. 643. 

Cabilonam (Chalons sur Saone), 119. 

Cabira (Sebaste), 25, 631. 

Cabo Torinentoso, 686. 

" de Boa Esperanca, 586. 
Cabul, in Zabulistan, 257. 
Caceres, 576. 
Cadiz, 403. 

" marquisate, 588. 
Cadore, t;07. 
Cadurcinus Pagus (Cadurcum). See Ca- 

liors, 117, 147T 



Caen, 484, 490. 

Caerleon Vipon Usk, caiutal of Wales, 103. 
Claermartlieu, 103. 
Cacrmardon, monastery, 433. 
Cwsarea, in Africa, 218. 
Ca?sarea ad Argeeum, 26, 631. 
Csesarea, in. Palestine, 11. 
" Barony, 842. 

Caesarea, in I'ontus, 374. 
Cfesarea, in Thessaly, 269. 
Ccesarea (Vaour), in Mauritania, 62. 
Caesaraugusta (Zaragoza), 184, 257. 
Csesarodunum (Tours), 70. 
Cafartab, castle of, 346. 
Catfa, in Crimea, 371, 610, 622. 
Cagli, bishopric, 616. 
Cagliari (Cabalis), 58. 599. 

" archiepiscopacy, 617. 
Cahors, county of, 243. 473. 
" bishopric, 391, 510. 
Caicus, river, 264. 

Caithness (Catanensis), diocese, 220, 287. 
Cajetum ((iauta). 194. 
Cairo (Kahira), 280, 806. 
Calabria, province, 57, 162. 
" (Langobardia,) 272. 
" duchy, 281, 821. 
Calahorr.a, 590, 593. 
Calais (Itius), 73, 403, 474. 

" (Calaisis), county, 432. 
Calaris (Cagliari), 823. 
Calatabellota, county, 599. 
Calatayud, 318, 595, 597. 
Calatrava, castle, 316. 
Calecut, in India, 641. 
Calcsls, district, 4S4. 
Caliphate of Bagdad, 274. 
Caliphate of Egypt, 281. 
CallirrhoB (Edessa), in Mesopotamia, 18. 
Calmar, diet of, 438. 
Calpe, 197, 215. 
Cahary, at Jerusalem, 839. 
Calvi, 610. 

Calycadnns (Selcph), river, 449. 
Camaldoli, monastery, 420. 
Camaraenm (Uambrai), 114. 
Camarata, county, 599. 
Cambrai, countv and city, 307, 467. 

bishopric, 390, 401. 
Cambria, kingdom, 103, 143. 
Campagna dl Eoma, 613. 
(3ampaldino, battlefield of, 420. 
Camcrino, bishopric, 616. 
Campania, district, 57, 422. 
Campen, Hansetown, 515. 
Campillo, treaty of, 594. 
Campo iSanto, of Pisa, 417. 
Ccimpi Gothici, on the Duero, 216. 
Cananor, kingdom, 640. 
Canaries, islands, 579. 
Candia (Crete), 359, 607. 
Candida Casa (Hwiterne), 287. 
Canea, in Crete, 359. 
Canche, river, 474. 
Cangas de Onis, 255. 
Canna (Cannse), county, 822. 
Canossa, castle, 251, 311. 
Cantara, castle, 599. 
Canterbury (Durovernum), 73, 221. 
Cantrefs, or districts in Wales, 432. 
Cantwaraburgh (Canterbury), 104, 221. 
Cantware, Cantia (Kent), 104. 
Caourcin. See Querci. 
Caours. See Cahors. 
Capaccio (the ancient Pcestum), 57. 
Cape Fini.sterre, 217. 
Cape Verde, islands, 573, 586. 
Capitanata, Greek province, 270, 322. 
Capo d'lstria (lustinopolis), 187 
Cappadocia, 26, 266, 327, 628. 
Capraja, island, 417. 
Capsia, in Africa, 322. 
Capua, city, 57, 186. 

" archiepiscopacy, 617. 
" gastaldate, 152. 
" principality, 257, 321, 322. 
Cara Dagli, in Syria, 346. 
Caravaggio, 609. 

Carcassona (Carcassonne), 124, 318, 388, 
493. 

county of, 242, 818. 
bishopric, 392. 
Carchis (Kerkeri), island, 322, 599, 648. 
Cardiga, c;istle, 579. 
Cardona, viscounty, 497. 
Carentanum. See Carinthia, 178. 
Caria, in Asia Minor, 21, 370, 629. 
Carinthia (Kiirnthen), duchy, 178, 250, 899, 

522, 525, 526. 
Carlat, county, 594. 
Carliugford, 429. 
Carlisle, 266. 

" bishopric, 433. 
Carlovingian, canal in Franconia, 172. 
Carlovingian domains, 231. 
(Carlovingian empire, 154. 
Carlsbad, springs, 515. 
Carlstein, castle, 515. 
Carmel, mount, 342. 
Carmona, 587. 

Carniola (Krain), duchy, 399, 522, 525, 526. 
Carnotis (Chartres), 111. 
Carnuntum (Presburg), 47. 
Carpathian mountains, 76, 109, 812, 385, 

555, 560, 570. 
Carpeutras (Carpentoracte), 129. 

bishopric, 392. 
Carpi, principality, 606, 611. 
Carrara, in Tuscany, 415. 
Carrick, county, 287. 
Carrick, castle, 283. 
Carrickfergus, 429. 
Carrion, battlefield. 255. 
Carthiige, 60, 140, 194, 213. 
Carthago Nova (Carthagena), 66, 124. 
Carthaginiensis, provincia, 66. 
Carthmell, monastery, 433. 
Cartsiacus (Quierzy), 181. 
Casalecchio, county, 410. 



Casentino, 415, 416, 420. 

Cashel, bishopric, 283. 

Caspian Sea, 276, 326, 636, 638. 

Caspius, mount, in Tabaristan, 277. 

Cassandria, 269, 652. 

Cassel, in Flanders, 467. 

Cassel, capital in llesse, 540. 

Castelbo, viscounty, 597. 

Castello-Koderigo, 580. 

Castellon, 598. 

Castalona, 820. 

Castellamare, in Sicily, 599. 

Castiglione (Chatillon), 413. 

Castle of David (Tower of Hippicus), 338. 

Castle Dangerous, 486. 

Castle of the Pisans (Hippicus), 338. 

Castello Ferentino, 424. 

Castello del Uovo, at Naples, 424. 

Castile, kingdom, 255, 281, 311, 317, 587, 

588, 605. 
Castoreia, in Macedonia, 858. 
Castres, county, 480. 

'' bishopric. 510. 
Castro-Giovanni (Enna), 822, 599. 
Castro, county in Aragon. 597. 
Castro (on Lago Bolsena), bishopric, 616. 
Castro-Tornese, castle of, 856. 
Castro-Marim, castle, 582. 
Castrum Album, in Hungary, 562. 
Castrum, duchy in Tuscany, 152. 
(3atalauni (Clifdons sur Maine), 117. 
Catalonia. 257, 318, 597. 
Catania, 5S9. 

Catherlough (Carlow), county, 283. 
Cattaro, eu If of, 563. 
Caucasus; mount, 3, 77, 87, 90, 92, 207, 326, 

638. 
Caucaland (Carpathian range), 90. 
Cavadonga, Abbey, 255. 
Cazubia, province, 312. 
(Cazza, island, 564. 
Cea, in Castile, 590. 
Cebenna Mons (Ccvennes), 155. 
Cefalu, in Sicily, 599. 
Cella, river, 255. 

Celtica Gallia (Central Gaul), 70. 
Cembalo, in Crimea, 371. 
Ceiiis, mount, 51. * 

Centena (Hundreds), subdivision of Carlo- 
vingian territory, 170. 
Cephalonia, island, 270. 

" duchy, 360, 621. 
Cephissus, river in Bceotia, 855, 594. 
Cerdaha, seigneury, 243, 318. 
Cerdicsforda, 104. 
(ierasus. in Pontus, 23. 
Cerigo (Cythera), island, 359. 
(!;ertosa, convent, 609. 
Cesena, 153. 

Cetius Mons (Kalemberg), 48. 
Cettina, river, 187. 

Ceuta (Septum), 123, 214, 668, 573, 583, 645. 
(Ilevennes, mounts, 469. 
Chabarda, castle, 246. 
Chieroneia, 269. 
Chaipha, seigneuiy, 342. 
Chalandritza, baronj', 357, 358. 
Chalkidian Chersonese, 269. 625. 

Chaibar, Jewish capital in Arabia, 202. 

Chalke, island, 362. 

Chalkis, fortress in Euboea, 269, 355, 359. 

Chalons sur Marue (Catalauni), 17. 
" bishopric, 309. 

county, 238; 497, 505. 

Chalons sur Saone (Cabilonum), city, 119, 
148. 

county, 239, 392, 497, 
506. 

Champagne (Champain), county, 234, 388, 
468, 4S4. 

Ohantareyn. See Santarem. 

Chantoceaux, seigneury, 465. 

Charnel house of Morat, 554. 

Chariopolis, 632. 

Charollais, 499. 

Chartres (Carnotis), 111. 

" county, 235, 338, 393, 491. 
" bishopric of, 891. 

Chateau Dun, viscounty, 388, 491, 494. 

Chateau-du-Loir, 465. 

Chatolard, castle, 600. 

Chateau-Thierry, 489. 

Cliatelets, the castles of Paris, 464. 

Chatillon de Perigord, battle of, 493. 

Chaumont, county, 306. 

Chaves, 580. 

Chazaria, 198. 

Chelb. See Silves. 

Chelidromi, island, 859. 

Chelm, principality, 451. 

Chelonatas, promontory, 358. 

Chenchir, province, 575. 

Chenciny, diet of, 446, 450 

Cherburg, 490. 

Cherica. See Xeres de los Caballeros. 

yiipaoia Tei'xT), Byzantine walls at Con- 
stantinople, 7, 633. _ 

Cherson (Chersonese, Bewastopol), 6, 109, 
254, 270, 871, 610. 

Chersonesus Taurica (Crimea), 6, 87, 92. 
135, 270, 871, 610. 

Cherso, island, 323. 

Chercz (Kertsh), 371. 

Cheviot hills, 286. 

Chiambery, 413. 

Chijiblesa (Ghablais), 413. 

(bhiaramoute, 699. 

Chiarenza. See Glarenza. 

Chierasco, 611. 

Chieri (Cairiura), 411. 

Chiliana (Kiel), capital 377. 

Chillon, castle, 244, 418, 551. 

Cliimay, 497. 

Chinon, castle, 479. 
Chintra. See Cintra. 

Chiny, county, 497. 

Chios, island, 22, 362, 359, 870, 610, 622, 

629. 
Chiozza, 608. 



Chizey, 476. 

Chlomutzi (Castro-Tornese), in Ells, 858. 

Choaspes, river, 211. 

Cholm, territory, 460. 

Chorasmia. (Kliowaresm), 276. 

Chorsun (Cibyra), 629. 

Chozim, 570. 

Cliristburg, castle, 453. 

Cliristiania, capital, 443. 

Christiansand, 443, 

Christmemel, castle, 452. 

Chrobatia, (Croatia) province, 31'<s. 

Xpucro/cepas (Golden Horn), 7. 

CkryiOTtdUum, in Constantinople, 7. 

Chi'y^oiricluiium^ 7, 262. 

Chuirke (Cork), 219. 

Chulu, in Africa, 213, 

Chur (Coire), 50, 175, 401, 551. 

Ciacomo, county, 599. 

Cibalis (Svilei), 47. 

Cibyra, 629. 

Cicestria (Chicester), bishopric, 433. 

Cilicia, 14, 266, 349, 63ii. 

Cilician defiles, 204, 266, 346, 631, 640. 

straits, 14. 
Cilley (Cilly), county, 526, 559, 562. 
Oimbrica Chersonesus (Jutland), 76, 82. 
Cimmerian Bosporus, 109. 
Cinarca, 610. 
Cinca, river, 597. 
Cintra. 577, 581. 

Circles, Kreise of Germany, 547. 
Cirencester, 221. 
Cirta (Constanlina), 62. 
Cis-Danubian Circle, in Hungary, 557. 
Cistertian convents in Denmark, 293. 
Cis-Tibiscan ciicle, in Hungary, 557. 
Cition, ill Cy]irus. 267. 
Ciudadela, 598. 

Ciudad Kuderigo, bishopric, 593. 
Civitiis Austiim (Forum Jiilii), 1ST. 
Ci vitas Pace. See Beja. 
Civitella, battle of, 321. 
Cis."anceaster (Chichester), 104. 
Clairvaux, monastery, 392. 
Clara Insula, convent, 294. 
Clarendon, 434. 
Claudiopolis, 28, 265. 
Clausura, Sancti Basilii, 867. » 

Clerkenwell, 434, 

Clermont (Clarus Mons), 112, 117, 240, 463. 
bishopric, 391. 

county, 306, 308, 388, 469, 488, 
600. 

Clfeves (Kleve), duchy, 522, 531. 

Clinnus(Clain), river, 115. 

Clonmel, castle, 429. 

Clontarf, battle of, 283, 

Cluniacense Monasterinm, 238. 

Clusce Francorum (Lesser Sdot Bernard), 
155. 

Clusium (Chiuso), duchy, 152. 

Clyde, river, 288. 

Cnossus, 39. 

Coales, river, 317. 

Coblenz (Confluentes), 71. 

Coca, 590. 

Cochin China, 636. 

Codanus Sinus (Baltic), 75. 

Ciilln, in Brandenburg, 517. 

Coimbra. 816, 574, 580. 

Coire (Chur), bishopric, 401, 551. 

Coesfeld, 403. 

Col de Panizars, 597. 

Colberg, 408. 

Colapis (Kulpa), river, 47. 

Colibre, seignory, 598. 

Coliseum in Eome, 311. 

Cologne (Kiiln), 71. 246, 402, 403. 
electorate, 513. 

Colonia Agrippina (Cologne), 71. 

Colosso, castle on Cyprus, 350. 

Colossas (CIioniE), in Phrygia, 2M. 

Column of Constantine, 633. 
ofTheodosius, 633. 

Comana Pontica, 28. 

Comai-cas, in Portugal, 678. 

Combrailles, b.arony, 500. 

Comitatus, counties, of Hungary, 314. 

Commagena (Asia Minor), 349. 

Commacchio, 153. 

Co772manderies of the milHary orders in 
the Morea, 357. 

of the Teutonic order, 381. 

Comminges, viscounty, 318. 
county, 242, 473. 

Como, republic, 823, 412, 413. 

Comorn, 253. 

Compiegne (Compendium), 231, 484. 

Compsa, county, 322. 

Oomthure (Commanderies), 381. 

Concordia, 52. 

Conde, city in Hainaut, 497. 

Condom, bishopric, 510. 

Conflans, county of, 318, 508, 609, 698. 

Confluentes (Coblenz), 71, 246. 

Congo, coiist of, 586. 

Connacia (Connaught), 100, 219. 

Consentia, in Calabria, 57, 322. 

Consoransis Pagus (district of Conserans), 
147. 

Constance (Costnitz), bishopric, 176, 401, 
411, 514, 644, 

lake, 176, 396. 

Constantia (Constanza), on Cyprus, 14, 267, 
350. 

Constantiana, 269. 

Constantina (Cirta), in Africa, 62, 643. 

Constantinople (Byzantium), 7, 187, 194, 

262, 269, 336, 625, 633. 
Contdde, districts of Cyprus, 350. 
Contado of Florence, 416. 
Convenas (Comminges). 147. 
Copenhagen, capital, 293, 403, 444, 545. 
Copper mines of Sweden, 440. 
Corbavia, county, 563. 
Corbell, county, 235, 388, 594. 
Corbeja (Corvey), monastery, 39 . 
Corbes, river, 575. 



224 



GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX. 



Corbio. 496. 

Corcagia (Cork), 219. 

Corcena, 590. 

Corcyra. See Corfu. 

Cordova, 65, 124, 215, 21S, 258, 5Sr, 5SS, 590, 

591. 
Corea, 636. 
Corfinium. 56. 
Corfii, island, 270, 323, 360. 
Corinthus, 40, 136, 269, 356, 620. 
Coria, 576. 

bishopric, 599. 
Cork, county, 219, 283. 
Cornu GaUicB (Brittany), 157. 
Cornwall. 103, 157. 
Coron. See Korou. 
Coronovo, in Poland, 449. 
Corregsrio, principality, 606, 611. 
Corsica, 53, 189, 151, 323, 395, 417, 010. 
Cortenuov-s battle of, 409. 
Cortona, 405, 612. 
Cos, island, 22, 862. 
Cotanda, in Spain, 318. 
Cottbus, 517. 
Cottiai, Alpes, 51, 148. 

province, 153. 
Cotyceon (Kutayah), 264, 629 
Coucy, barony, 306, 488, 494. 
Couesnon, river, 236. 
Coulogne, city and castle, 474. 
Courland, bi-liopric, 380, 449, 454. 
hereditary duchy, 454. 
Courtray (Kortryck), battle of, 467. 
Coutances, viscounty of, 236, 321. 

bislioprie, 390. 
Cracow, capital and province, 250, 312. 
Cranganor, kingdom in Hindoostan, 641. 
Crateia, in Asia Minor, 265. 
Crato, 581. 
Crawford, 104. 
Crecv, 825, 464, 591. 
Crema, 405, 60T. 
Cremona, 405, 409, 413. 
Crepi, capital, 4SS. 
Creta (Candia), 89, 194, 251, 261, 263. 

duchy, 359, 6U7. 
Crimea, Chanate, 456, 460. 
Crimea (Taurian Chersonese), 6, 135, 194, 

^70, 371, 610, 622, 638. 
Crispium (Crepi), 233. 
Croatia, province of, 260, 312, 314 

kingdom of 218, 260, 312, 314, 568. 
Croja, capital and fortress, 624, 635. 
Crown lands of Romania, 352. 
Cruland, monastery. 221, 433. 
Csanad, comitat, 658. 
Ctesiphon. on the Tigris, 96, 207. 
Cuellar, 590. 

Cuenza (Kuvenka), 334, 588, 590. 
Cuermardhyn (Caermarthen), 103. 
Cujavia, province of, 312. 

duchy, 449. 
Culleu, in Scotland, 220. 
Culm, in Prussia, 312, 379, 380, 831, 449. 
Culmbach, 541. 

Cumberland, 103, 284, 292, 431. 
Cuneo, 611. 

Curie I-Lif, estuary of the Baltic, 379. 
Curia See Coria. 
Ciirzola, island, 323. 
Cydnus, river, 14, 327. 
Cycladian islands, 22, 268, 359. 
Cydissus, 204. 

Oymmwd or valleys in "Wales, 432. 
Cyprus, 14, ,194, 267. 

kingdom, 836, 850, 607, 610, 611. 
Cyrene, 17. 
Cyrenaica, 17. 

Cythera (Cerigo), island, 22, 270. 
Cyzicus, 22, 268, 629. 
Czanad. bishopric, 571. 
Czartorisky, principality, 451. 
Czaslaw, principality, 451. 
Czasniki, 452. 

Czernagora (Montenegro), principality in 
Bosnia, 565. 

voivodat in Servia, 566. 
district in the Morea, 196. 
Czersk, principality, 449. 



■D. 



Dacia, 33, 34, 253, 561. 

for Denmark, 107. 
Dagoe, island, 377, 380. 
Dag6stenon, mount, 327. 
Dalarne, 225, 301, 433, 440. 
Dalclf, river, 440. 
Dalibra, in Paphlagonia, 265. 
Dalisandros, in Cilicia, 266. 
Dalmatia, 46, 187, 194, 260, 272, 314, 563. 
Dalric, on Loch-Awe, 436. 
Dalsland, 349. 
Damanhur, 366. 

Damascus, 11, 194 198, 204, 281, 337, 639. 
Damghan, in Taberistan, 209. 
Damietta, in Egypt, 366. 
Damraartin county, 488. 
Damnonia, in Cornwall, 103. 
Danaster (Dniester), river, 33, 90. 
Dandaca, in Crimea, 92. 
Danemark (Denmark), 85, 144, 190, 218, 

281, 292, 428, 438. 
Danevirke (Danish Wall) in Schleswig, 190, 

222, 249. 
Danish i.slands, 222. 
Danzig, 403, 449. 
Daphne, imperial palace at Constantinople, 

7. 
Daphni, convent, near Athens, 355. 
Dara, fortress, in Mesopotamia, 13, 135. 
Darah, state, in Africa, 696. 
Daran, island, 862. 
Dardania, 85. 
Durdanos, 268. 

Uarantasia (Mofttier), 69, 401, 413. 
Daroca, 818, 595, 597. 
Daron, Reignory, on Mount Cannel. 342. 



Dascylion, river, 268. 

Datia (for Dacia, Denmark), 107. 

Daulion, 269. 

Dauphine (Delphinatus), 308, 398, 465, 483, 

493. 
Dauphin6 d'Auvergne, 501. 
Davos, valley, 5.51. 
Dawmatal-Jandal, in Arabia, 202. 
Dax (Aquaj), capital, 242. 

bishopric, 391. 
Debil (near B.ajazid), 208. 
Dee, river, 482. 
Deggendorf, 527. 
Deheubarth (South Wales), 103. 
Deira, Northumberland, 104, 143. 
Dejar Bekir (Diarbekir), 205. 
Mesr (Egypt), 206. 
Modar, 205. 
Eabia, 205. 
Delft, 497. 

Delhi in Hindoostan, 275, 637. 
Delmenborst, county, 542. 
Delphi. 269. 
Demetrias, 269, 373. 
Dendera, 366. 

Denia, in Valencia, 320, 598. 
Dervend, on the Caspian, 96, 208, 315. 
Derventer, 178, 248. 
Dessau, 586. 

Deutsch-Brod, in Bohemia, 515. 
Deuteron, at Constantinople, 853. 
Despotos, mount, 269. 
Diarbekir (Amida), 13, 205. 

sultanate of, 281, 328. 
Dibra, in Albania, 624. 
Didjfat (Tigris), river, 207. 

Didymoteichos (Tymotikon), 853, 632. 
Die, capital, 493. 

bishopric of, 392. 

Djebal Adimmei, 646. 

Habat (Atlas Minor), 582. 

Kals, 604 

Samantan, 604. 

Taric (Gibraltar), 215, 591. 

Tedjia, 646. 

Djedda, port of Mecca, 201. 

Djcnidje (Abdera), 30. 

Djeslrah-al-Arab (Arabia), 200. 

Dieu, island, 474. 

Dieu d'Amour, castle, 350. 

Digno (Diuia), 129. 

bishopric, 392. 

Dijon (Diviona), capital. 239, 468. 

Dilem (Dhilem, Ghilan), 209, 277. 

Dimetica (Wales), 103. 

Dimotika. See Didymoteichos. 

Dinarian Alps, 368, 563. 

Dindymon, mount, 264 

Dinia (Digne), 129. 

D oceses of the Koman empire, 5. 

Diokaisareia, in Cappadoeia, 266. 

Dionysopolis, 269. 

Diospolis (Lydda), 340 

Dirkul, castle, 364 

Disentis, abbey, 551. 

Distos, in Euboea, 855. 

Ditmarsken, 84 877, 398, 438, 445, 533. 

Djumna, river, 275. 

Dmitrow. principality, 458. 

Dnieper, river, 226, 254 305, 334, 885. 

Dniester, river, 253, 254 

Dobiika, comitat. 559. 

Dobrena, in the Morea, 196. 

Dubrudshe, on the Danube, 569. 

Dobryn, voivodat, 449. 

Dobrzyn, province, 449. 

Dodder, river, 429. 

Diifflngen, battle of, 528. 

Dol, bishopric, 390. 

Dollard, bay, 497. 

Doluk, castle, 346. 

Dombes, seigniory, 500. 

Dome of Milan, 609. 

Domfront in Normandy, 490. 

Domremi, near Tonl, 486. 

Donoratico, 599. 

Don (Thanais), river, 76. 89, 90, 254, 639. 
battlefield on the, 450. 

Dendremondo, 497. 

Donjetz, river, 302. 

Donzi, barony, 467, 485. 

Dordogne, river, 183, 493. 

Dora Baltea, river, 401. 

Doris, province, 373. 

Dornach, near Basle, battle of, 553. 

Dorpat, bishopric and city, 380, 382, 449. 

Dortmund, 403. 

Dortrecht, 497. 

Dorylffium, 264 825, 327, 627, 628. 

Doubs, river, 468. 

Douglas, castle, 436. 
county, 287. 

Dovre-Fjeld, 228. 

Doweir, castle, 346. 

Dragotha, 264 

Drave, river, 45, 47, 48, 260, 559. 

Dresden, 247, 519. • 

Dreux, county, 236. 346, 388, 481, 494. 

Dristra (Silistria), 867. 

Dresnec, in Sclavonia, 260. 

Drinon Albula (White Drin), river of Al- 
bania, 624. 

Drinus (Black Drin), rivor, 6, 565, 566. 

Drouais, 475. 

Drucz, river, 452. 

Dshesair, eialet of, 634 

Dshuf-Garbielj, (Delta), 366. 

Dubis (Dubs), river, 71. 

Dublin (Eblana), 100, 221, 28-3, 292. 

Ducatus Jutim (Schleswig), 295. 

Duchies in Lombardy, 152. 

Diina, river, 226, 305, 884, 452. 

Dueseford (Wexford). 219. 

Dusseldorf, 532. 

Duisburg, 403. 

Duivcland, 497. 

Duilia (Diiren), 171. 

Dulcigiio, 624. 

nnmet-nl-Diondol, 202. 



Duinferline, 220. 

Dumfries, 288, 436. 

Dnnbar, castle, 436. 

Dunblan, 287. 

Dnndalk, 283,429. 

Dundrum, castle, 429. 

Dungannon, castle, 429. 

Dunkcldfn. 287. 

Dunkirk, 403, 496. 

Dunois. county, 494 

Dunstaft'nage, castle, 286. 

Duomo d'Ossola, 609. 

Dupplin, battle of, 486. 

Durance, river, 618. 

t)uraz20 (Dyrrhachium), 38, 136, 279, 324, 

607, 624, 685. 
Durham, palace, London, 434. 
Durham, bishopric, 433. 
Durlach, in Baden, 538. 
Duracortorum (Kheims), 71. 
Durovernum (Canterbury), 73. 
Dyflin (Dublin), 100, 279. 
Dyppel in Schleswig, battle of, 444. 
Dyrrhachium. See Durazzo 



E. 



Eaglesford (Aylesford), 104 
East Anglia, 104, 143, 289. 
East Flanders, 497. 
East Gothland, 489. 
Eastern Lapmark, 441. 
East Indian conquests, 573. 
East Scaxas (Essex), 104. 
Ebal, njount, 842. 
Eblana (Dublin), 100. 
Eboracum (York), 78. 
Eboreja (Eporedia, Ivrea), Lombard duchy, 
152. 

marquisate, 246, 251. 
Ebroica (Evreux), 115. 
Eburodunum (Embrun), 69, 148. 
Eden, river, 292, 
Edessa, in Mesopotamia, 13, 835 

county, 386, 347, 362. 

in Macedonia, 37. 
Edinburgh (Edin), 288, 436. 
Edmundsbury, monastery, 438. 
Edrene (Adrianople), 80, 632. 
Edwinsbury, 220, 288. 
Ega, castle, in Portugal, 579. 
Eggerstaine, border castle. 288. 
Egland (Oeland), island, 225. 
Egra, province, 395. 
Egribos. See Euboea. 
Egypt, 15, 206, 280, 865, 866, 640, 641. 
Ehingen, on tho Danube, 544. 
Eichsfeld, 513. 
Eichstadt, bishopric, 401. 
Eidora (Eider), river, 167, 294 
Eidskog, 297. 
Einsidein, abbey, 552 
Eisenburg, comitat, 557. 
Eisleben, 519. 
Elaver (AUier), river, 112. 
Elba, island, 417, 61i 
Elbe (Albis), river, 77, 78, 82, 105. 
El-Bahari (Delta), 206. 
Elberfeld, 582. 
Elbing, 382. 449. 
Elbira (Granada), 216. 
El-Bireh, near Jerusalem, 340. 
Elboras (mount Caucasus), 208. 
Elche, 598. 

El -DehaghaJi, at Jerusalem, 839. 
Elena (Elna). 124. 
Eleusis, 269. 
El-Fandak, 604 
El-Fostat (Cairo), 206. 
El-Hedjaz, 201. 
Elis, 196, 269, 356, 358. 
El-Karkh, baza'ar at Bagdad, 207. 
El-Kods. bee Jerusalem. 
Ellerslie (Paisley), 436. 
Elno, capital, 243. 

bishopric, 892. 
Elster, river. 810, 519; 
Elusa (Auch), 68, 112, 241. 
Elvas, 576, 581. 
Elvend, mount, 210. 
El-VVahat, 206. 
Ely, 290. 

bishopric, 483. 
Ely O'Carrol, 429. 
Embrun (Eburodunum), 69, 246. 
Emesa, 11. 

Emirate of Cordova, 197, 198. 
Emporium (Genoese), at Constantinople, 

359. 
Encolismensis Pagus, 148. 
Engaddin, valley. 551. 
England, kingdom of, 218, 281, 282, 376, 

427, 428, 429. 
English conquests in France, 475, 476, 477. 
Entre-Douro-e-Minho, province, 580. 
Entre Teio-e-Guadiana, province, 581. 
Eoforwic (York), 143, 221. 
Ephesus, 22, 268, 629. 
Epidauros (Pidauro), 190. 
Ephraim, mount, 835. 
Epirus, 38, 860, 621, 624, 685. 

despotat, 872. 
Epstein, county, 542. 
'EvTo.Tvupytoi' (the Seven Towers), at 

Constantinople, 7. 
Epte, river, 236. 
'E-n-irponoL (curopalates), 262. 
Erdely-Orszag (Transylvania), 556. 
Erekli, 628. 

Eresbarg (Stadtbergen), 174. 
Erfurt. 402, 513. 
Erin (Ireland), 100. 
Erlau, bishopric, 571. 
Ermelaud, district, 880, 449. 

bishopric, 453. 
Ermings' Strsede, 221. 
Ei'linokastron, eastle, 8.'>.5. 



Erzerum, 208, 631. 

Erz-Gebirge, 78. 519. 

Erysima, in Cappadoeia, 266. 

Erythreum mare (Incban ocean), 96. 

Escal na, 590. 

Esdrselon, plain of, 843. 

Esia, Esna or Isara (Oise), river, 181. 

Eskanderiah (Alexandria), 206. 

Eskdale. 288. 

Eski-Hissar (Alabanda), 629. 

Eski-Karahissar (Synnada), 629. 

Eski-Schehr. See Doryloeum. 

Esneh, 866. 

Espartel. cape, 582. 

Espila, 597. 

Espiiial, 529. 

Esrom, abbey, 293. 

Es-Sham. See Damascus. 

Es-Sham (Syria), Mohammedan province, 

204 
Essex (Est-Saxonia), 104 
Esslingen, 544. 

Estampes, viscounty, 388, 485. 
Este, marquisate, 396, 606, 611. 
Esthland (Esthonia), 305, 877, 380, 454. 
Estoi, 575. 
Estrellar, 602. 
Estremadura (Spain), 583. 
Estremadura (Portugal), 581. 
Ethandun (Eddington), 221. 
Et-Tih, desert, 341. 
Etzelbnrg (Biida Pesth), 122. 
Eu, county, 306. 490. 

Euboea (Negroponte), island, 269, 355, 359, 
607, 634. 

bishopric, 354. 
Euripos, strait, 359. 
Em'opa, province, 30, 269. 
Euryniedon, river, 19. 
Euergetes, monastery of the, 853. 
Evesham, 434. 
Evreux (ISbroica"), 115. 

county, 306, 894, 490. 

bishopric of, 390. 
Evre (Avarus), river, 116. 
Eyaf jord (north land), of Iceland, 209, 
Eye-Gothland, 85. 
Eyubid empire, 363. 
Exarchate of Eavcnna, 158, 252. 
Exerica (Jerica), duchy, 598. 
Exonia (Exeter), bishopric, 433. 
Extrema Durii (Estremadura), 255. 



Fabriano, county, 422. 
Faenza, 153, 405, 422. 
Fier-oer, 224 300. 
Fa?sula. See Fiesole. 
Fagaras, district, 559. 
Falaise, 490. 

Falera (Falisi). bishopric, 616. 
Falkenburg, 529. 
Falkirk, 436. 
Falkoping, 438. 
Falster, island, 298, 878. 
Falsterboe, castle, 545. 
Falun, 440. 
Famagusta, 350, 610. 
Famieh, 12. 
Fano, 153. 

bishopric, 61G. 
Fanum Sancti Eeguli (St. An(Jrews). 288. 
Fararaiah (Pelusium), 206. 
Faro, in Algarve, 577, 582. 
Farringdon, 434. 

Ears (Farsistan), in Persia) 211. 277, 329. 
Fatimetic branch of the Nile, 366. 
Faucigny, lordship, 413. 
Faughard, river, in Ireland, 2S8. 
Faustinopolis, 266. 
Feijcrvar, comitat, 559. 
Perentino, 422 

bishopric, 616. 
Feriorium, battlefield of, 822. 
Fermo, archiopiscopacy, 617. 
Fernihurst, border castle, 288. 
Ferrara, 158, 405, 613. 
Fersala (Pharsalus), 373. 
Fez, kingdom, 214 645, 646. 
F^zenzac, county, 242, 481. 
Fichtel Oehirge (pine mountnins), 78. 
Fidalgon, in Portugal. 577. 
Fiesole, 55, 405. 
Fife, county, 287. 
Figtieras, fortress. 597. 
Filibe. See Philippopolis. 
Fineka, in Lycia. 629. 
Finnland, 801, 442. 
Fjord, district in Norway, 190. 
Fjordimgar (wards), in Iceland, 299. 
Flamborough, cape, 143. 
Flaminiii, province, 53. 
Flanders, county, 232, 393, 467, 485, 542. 
Flavia Caasariensls, 73. 
Fleetditch. 291. 
Flensborg, 294 
Flevo (Zuider Sea), 80. 
Flodden Field, battle of, 485. 
Florence (Florentia), 55. 

archbishopric, 617. 

county, 252. 

duchy. 452. 

republic, 415, 416, 612. 
Florence, in Guvenne, 473. 
Fly-Tower, at Acre, 342. 
Fodewig. in Skaane, 298. 
Foggia, Saracen colony, 424 
Foligno (Fulcinium), 613. 

bishopric, 616. 
Foix, county, 248, 306, 473. 
Fontanetuni (Fontenay), battle of, 228. 

monasteiy, 890. 
Forbelet, castle in Galilee, 342. 
Forqualquier, county, 246, 502. 
Forez, county, 469, .500. 
Forii, 153, 405. 
Formigny, 490. 



GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX. 



225 



Forum Arcadii, 7. 

Constantini, 7. 

Julii (Friuli), duchy, 152, 187. 
.Tulii (Frejus), 69. 
Theodosii, 7. 
Fossalta, 410. 

Fossombrone, bishojiric, 616. 
Foss-Waeg, 221. 
Fougeres, couuty in Brittany, 237, 393, 490, 

504. 
Fraga, battlefield of, SIS, 597. 
France, Icingdom, 218, 228, 281, 375, 386, 

428, 461. 
France (Isle de France), duchy, 235. 
Franche-Comto (High Burgundy), 309, 

408, 490. 
Franche Garde, castle, 344. 
Francia Antiqua (Franken), 229. 
Francia Nova, 229. 

Orientalis, 159, 249. 
Rhenensis, 249. 
Franciacum (Fronsac), 183. 
Franconia, duchy of, 149, 159, 249, 309, 

395. 
Frangipani, county, 422. 
Frankfort, on the iVIaine, 544. 
Frank mountain, near Bethlehem, 340. 
Frankish, kingdom, 145, 147, 154, 189, 228. 
Frascati, bishopric, 616. 
Fraxinctum, 216. 

Fredericia, in Jutland, battle of, 444, 
Freiberg, in Saxony, 519. 
Freiburg, in Baden, 538. 
FreielieichstLidte (Imperial cities), 61, 402, 

425, 544. 
S'reisingen, bishopric, 401. 
Frejus, 69. 

bishopric, 392. 
Frequento, county, 422. 
Fretum Gallicnm (the channel), 71 
Fresnada, village of, 316. 
Freyburg, in Switzerland, 548. 

Canton, 550. 
Fricdland, 517. 
Friesland, duchy, 258. 
county, 485. 
Fiisic-Haf, estuary of the Baltic, 379. 
Frith of Forth, 287. 
Frisia (Friesland), province, 166, 173. 
Friuli, marquisate, 187, 252, 607. 

(Udine), city, 187. 
Frizlar, 513. 
Fronsac, 493. 
Fulah (Faba), castle, 343. 
Fucecchio, lake, 421. 
Fiinfkirchen, 5:35. 

bishopric, 571. 
Fuente-Dueila, 590. 
Fuente-Segura, 590. 
Fiirstenberg, county, 542. 
Fiirstenfelde, convent, 527. 
Fulda, abbey, 177, 399. 
Funchal, 585. 
Fundi, county, 322. 

Fv-en (Fionia), island, 85, 222, 293, 378. 
FilUcer (districts), 223, 296. 



Or. 

Gabala (Gibel), 346. 

Gaeldoch (the Highlands), 101. 

Gaeta, principality, 251, 321. 

Galata, suburb of Constantinople, 7, 351, 

3.59, 371, GIO, 622. 
Galata, tower of, 371. 
Galata, castle in Arcadia, 358. 
Galicia (Gallaecia), in Spain), 66, 255, 316, 

588. 
Galicia (Lodomeria), kingdom, 563. 
Galilee (Tiberias), principality, 343. 
Galindia, district in Prussia, 880. 
Galitsch, principality, 458. 
Gallaecia (Galicia), 66. 
Gallipoli. See Kallipolis. 
Gallipoli, in Italy, 607. 
Galloway, lordship of, 287. 

county, 288. 
Gallura, province, 323. 
Ganda (Gaud), 181, 232. See Ghent. 
Gandia, duchy, 598. 
Gandawyk (White Sea), 225. 
Ganges, river in India, 636. 
Gangra, 28, 265. 
Gap, bishopric, 392, 
Garb-Naath. See Granada. 
Garda, castle, 252. 

lake, 252, 608. 
Gardarike (Eussia), 220. 
Garfagnana, district, 417, 612. 
Gargano, mount, 252, 322. 
Garigliano, river. See Liris. 
Garisenda, tower in Bologna, 410. 
Garizim, mount, 342. 
Gartempe, river, 239. 
Gascogae (Vasconia), 68. 

duchy, 241, 387, 471. 
Gate of Saint Stephen (Jerusalem), 338. 
Gates of mediaeval London, 434. 
Gatinois, viscounty, 388. 
Gaudium SanctiE Mariae, monastery, 390. 
Oauen (pagi, districts), 79, 230, 245. 
Gaularos, near Trondhjem, 297. 
Gaure, county, 473, 481. 
Gauthiod (Gutalaud), 106. 
Gava (Gave), river, 242. 
Gaza, castle, 341. 

Gdansk (Danzig), city and fortress, 382. 
Gegio (Gijon), 217. 
Geldern. See Guelders. 
Gelllieim, battle of, 511, 521. 
Gemersheim, 521. 
Geneva (Janua), 119, 182. 

county of, 244, 389, 548. 
bishopric of, 392. 
Genezareth, lake, 343. 
Gfnin, castle, in Palestine, 343. 
Genoa, maritime republic, 323, 371, 414, 
(il 0,617. 



Genussos, river, 624. 

Gepida;, kingdom of the, 122, 149. 

Geppingen, 395. 

Gera, on the Elster, 310. 

Gerace, county, in Sicily, 599. 

Geraki, barony, in the Morea, 357. 

Gerbes, island, 822, 599, 643. 

Gergovia (Clermont), 239. 

GEitMAN Empike, 218, 228, 247-250, 875, 

394—404, 511—547. 
German principalities, 530. 
Germania, 71, 76, 228. 
Germanica, castle, 347. 
Gers, river, 473. 
Gestelenburg, county, 551. 
Gestrikeland, 440. 
Getulia, 334. 
Ghasna, 275. 
Ghemlik (Kibotos), 628. 
Ghent (Gand), 181, 232, 467. 

republic of, 388, 496. 
Ghilan, 277. 
Gianuli, island, 417. 
Gibelin (Beit-Gibrin), castle of, 341. 
Gibraltar, 215, 591, 603. 
Giengen, 527, 544. 
Giglio, island, 417, 612. 
Gifion, valley, 338. 
Gijon (Gegio), capital, 217, 255. 
Girona, duchy, 597. 
Gjurgewo, 570. 
Gladsmore Heath, 434. 
Glandeve, bishopric, 392. 
Glarenza, castle, 356, 607, 621. 
Glarus, canton, 549. 
Glasouensis Provincia, Episcopal See of 

Scotland, 287. 
Glasgow, city, 288. 

college, 485. 
Gleichen, coimty, 542. 
Glogau, 516. 
Gnesen (Gniesno), archbishopric, 250, 312, 

449. 
Gnoyen, in Vendl.and. 378. 
Gobffium, promontorium, 67. 
Godoland, on the Baltic, 90. 
Godosconzia, castle of the Goths, 90. 
Gomov, comitat, 558. 
Giirz (Gurca), bishopric, 401. 
Gottingen, 310. 
Golden Horn, port of Constantinople, 9, 

353, 610, 633. 
Goletta, fortress, near Tunis, 643, 
Golgotha, at Jerusalem, 339. 
Goniphi, 269. 

Gonzaga, principality of, 611. 
Good Hope, cape, 573, 586. 
Gorgona, island, 417. 
Gorgoni, valley, 327. 
Gorizia (Gorz), county, 525. 
Gorodez, principality, 458. 
Gortyna (Kainurion), in Crete, 39. 
Gortys (Scorta), in Arcadia, 356, 358. 
Goslar, city of, 249, 310. 
Gothia (Oviedo), kingdom, 217, 255. 
Gothic states in Spain, 217. 
Gothland (Gothia), 225, 439. 
Gothland (Gulland), island, 225, 380, 444, 

545. 
Gotholaunia (Catalonia), 257. 
Gournay, barony, 490, 494. 
Gozzo, island, 599. 

Grado (Venice), archiepiscopacy, 617. 
Grades, 318. 
Gradisca, in Friuli, 525. 
Gruz, 526. 

Grafen-Gauen (Pagi), 167. 
Grafenstein, castle, 538. 
Grampian Hills, 102, 287. 
Gran (Strigonium), 253. 

comitat, 557. 
Granada, 316, 587, 590, 603, 604. 
Grand Oommanderies, 381. 
Grandella, plain, 424. 
Grandpre, county, 489. 
Graona (Grono), river, 238. 
Granson, 495. 
Grasse, bishopric, 392. 
Gratia Dei, monastery, 391. 
Gratzina, in Messenia, 358. 
Graudenz, 449. 
Gr.».vina, county, 322. 
Great Saint Bernhard, 401. 
Great Wardein, bishopric, 571. 
Greek Empire. See Byzantine Empire. 
Greenland, 223, 298, 443 (addenda). 
Greifswalde, 403, 525. 
Grenoble, 246, 465. 

bishopric, 392. 
Gritzena, barony, 357. 
&rod, border-castles in Poland, 813, 446. 
Grodnisch, county, 563. 
Grodno, 452. 
Grone, castle, 310. 
Gross-Comthure, of the Teutonic Order, 

381. 
Grossa, island, 823. 
Griiningen, 523. 
Grunwald, battlefield of, 383. 
Grusia (Grusinia), 208. 
Guadalete, river, 197. 
Guadalajara, 316, 588, 590. 
Guadalaviar, river, 820. 
Guadalquivir (Bostis), river, 05, 604. 
Guadarrama (Diebal Schai'rat), 255, 588. 
Guadix, 593, 604 
Guadiana, river, 62, 816. 
Guelders, 497, 530. 
Guesclin, castle, 470. 
Gustrow, 534. 
Guildhall, in London, 291. 
Guimaraes, capital, 574, 580. 
Guinea, 586. 

Guipuscoa (Ipuscoa), province, 257, 588. 
Guisnes (Guines), 232, 432, 464, 474. 
Guldbrandsdalen, in Norway, 223. 
Guldholm, convent, 294. 
Gulland (Gothland), island, 444. 
Guttenstein, castle, .524, 



Guyenne (Guienne), 393, 471, 481. 
Guzzerate, in Hindoostan, 561. 
Gwynedh (Venedocia), 10.3. 
Gypsies' Island at Belgrade, 566. 

H. 

Ilabakuk, castle, 342. 

Habsburg (Habichtsburg), castle, 523, 548. 

county, 396. 
Habsal, in Esthland, 377. 
Hadalaud, disb-ict, 190. 
Haddeby (Schleswlg), 222. 
Hadrumetum, 60. 
H.acchingen, 541. 
Hajmimons, province, 30, 269. 
Hajmimontis, province, 269. 
HiEmus, mount, 269. 
I/iifites, Arab students, 646. 
Hafursfjord, battle of, 223. 
Hagion-Oros (Athos), 269. 
Haghii Trianda, 623. 
Hainaut (Uennegau), county, 467, 485, 497, 

542. 
Halberstadt, bishopric, 401. 
Halep (Beroa), city. 204. 

Turkish principality of, 281, 837. 
Halikamassos, 21, 267. 
Halicz, Halitch (Galicia), principality, 302, 

312, 314. 451, 563. 
Halicz, Greek patriarchate, 571. 
Halland, in Denmark, 190, 293, 378. 
Halydon Hill, ne.ar Berwick, 434. 
Halys, river, 265, 626. 
Hamah, 337. 

Hamaburg (Hamburg), castle, 174. 
Hamburg, archbishopric, 222, 247. 

hausotown, 310, 377, 402, 408, 

545, 546. 
Hamadan (Ekbatana), 210 
Hamamet (Hadrumetum), 60, 213, 643, 
Hamath (Epiphania), 204. 
Hames, castle in Calaisis, 474, 488. 
Hamid, province, 628, 629. 
Hamlin, in Syria, 347. 
Hanau, county, 542. 
Hanover, hansetown, 403. 
Hapsburg. See Habsburg. 
Harah, mountains, 201. 
Haraldsborg, castle, 293. 
Haraldsskov, forest near Eoeskilde, 293. 
Raram, or Mohammedan sanctuary at 

Jerusalem, 339. 
Harcourt, county, 490. 
Hardewyke, 497. 
Harem, castle, 346. 
Harfleur, siege of, 478, 490. 
Harlem, 497. 
Harom, district, 559. 
Han'an, in Syria, 347, 631. 
Harrien, province, 377. 
Hartes-Berg (Mount Harz), 249. 
Harzburg, castle, 310. 
Hassia, landgraviate, 898, 540. 
Hastings, 286, 288, 290. 
Haut-Valais, Upper Wallis, 551. 
Hautecombe, abbey, 413. 
Haute Marche, county, 239. 
Hauteville, castle, 236, 821. 
Havel, river, 517. 
Havelberg, 517. 

bishopric, 401. 
Hawarden, castle, 432. 
Hazseg, comitat, 559. 
Hebrides, islands, 219, 221, 286, 300, 431, 

437. 
Hebdoraon, palace at Constantinople, 7, 633. 
Hebrus (Maritza), river, 353. 
Hecla, mount, 298. 

Hedemark, district in Norway, 190, 223. 
Heide in Ditmarsken, 538. 
Heidelberg, 520, 521. 
Heiligberg, county, 542. 
Heiligland. See Helgoland. 
Heimsheim, 528. 
Heinsburg, in Berg, 532. 
Helenopolis, 265. 
Helgoland (Forseteland), 80. 
Hellas, 194, 269, 628. 
Hellenopontus, province, 23. 
Hellenstedt, 527. 
Hellespontus, province, 22. 
HeUigboek (Holybrook), in Schleswig, 222. 
Helsingaland, 225, 801, 440. 
Helvetia (Burgundia Minor), 182, 309 
Hemmingstad, 445. 
Hcnneberg, county, 542. 
Hennebon, in Brittany, 470 
Hennegau. See Hainaut. 
Heptanomis, 16. 

Heptarchy (Anglo Saxon), 143, 221. 
Heraclea (Perinthus), 80, 269, 359. 
Heraclea Pontica, 28, 374, 628. 
Heraclea, in Tenetia, 272. 
Herat, 212. 

Bercynius Saltus, 78. 
Hereford, bishopric, 438. 
Herjedalen, 223, 440, 441. 
Heristal, castle, 162, 171. 
Hermanstadt, 561. 
Hermitage, border castle, 436. 
Hermon, mount, 344. 
Hermus, river, 21, 264. 
Hernosand, 441. 
Herreder (hundreds), 222, 290. 
Herring -Jisheries in Denmark, 545. 
Herritze, 293. 
Herthe insula, 222. 
Herthe, valley of, 106. 
Herzegowiua (San Saba), principality, 565. 
Hesse. See Hassia. 
Heves, comitat, 558. 
Hexham on the Tyne, 434. 
Hialteland (the Shetland Islands), 224. 
Hibernia (Ireland), 100. 
Hjemteland, 223. 
Hierapolis, 12. 
Hierasus (Pruth), 90. 



High Burgundy, free county, 468. 
Highlandu of Scotland, 220. 
Highroads in Poland, 313. 
Hii (lona), island, 101. 
Hijar, barony. .597. 
Hildesheim, 249, 408. 

bishopric, 401. 
Hiltersried, battle of, 521. 
Himalaya, mount, 637. 
Himmalaya, mountains, 197. 
Hindmend, river, 212. 
Hindostan, 275, 326. 
Hippicus, tower of. See David's Tower, 

338. 
'linroip&tios, the Atmeidan, at Constan- 
tinople, 7, 226, 262, 633. 
Hippo Eegius, or Hippone (Bona), 62. 
Hira, on the Euphrates, 198. 

kingdom, 203. 
Hisn-el-Kasir, 575. 
Hispalis. See Se villa, 65, 121 
Hiss'r-ol-Akrad, castle, .345. 
Hiss'r Sandshil, 345. 
Hita, 590. 

Hlade, in Norway, 223. 
Hledru (Leire), in Sealand, 106. 
Hochberg, castle, 538 
Hoddom, castle, 288. 
Hofstedt, 310. 
Hohenberg, 810. 
Hohenlohe. 452. 
Hohenstaufen, castle, 310, 895. 
HohenzoUern, county, 517, 541, 542. 
Hohle Gasse, at Khssnacht, 552. 
Holborn vineyards, 291. 
Holdoun Hill, near Melrose, 486. 
Holland, county, 248, 400, 485, 497, 542. 
Holomucz (Olmiitz), 516. 
Hollow Laconia, 858. 
Holmgard (Novogorod). 
Holstein, county, 82, 173, 294, 377, 398, 444. 

duchy, 533. 
Holswaerd, 497. 
Holum, episcopal see in Iceland, 299, 443 

addenda. 
Holy Sepulchre, at Jerusalem, 839. 
Holzatia, Holsten. See Holstein. 
Homildon-Hill, 434. 
Honein, valley, 202. 
Honfleur, 490. 
Honorias, province, 28. 
Honth, comitat, 557. 
Hordaland, district in Norway, 190. 
Horeb (Hor), mount, 11, 342. 
Horodloie, in Poland, 451. 
Horvath-Orszag (Sclavonia), 659. 
Hospitium Sancti Johanni at Jerusalem. 

339. 

at Acre, 342 
House of Wisdom in Cairo, 280. 
Hoya, county, 542. 
Hradschin, at Prague, 515. 
Hradisch, 516. 
Hram, 299. 
Huelva, 587. 
Huerta of Valencia, 320. 
Huesca, 318, 595. 
Huete, 590. 

Hundreds, Anglo-Saxon, 221, 290. 
Hungaria Nigra (Transylvania), 314. 
Hungary, kingdom of, 218, 253, 287, 814, 

375. 
Hunyad, comitat, 559. 
Hussinecz, 515. 

Hydi-ea (Idra), isliind, 359, 635. 
Hydruntum (Otranto), 270. 
Hylarima, 629. 

Hypata (ISea; Patr.'p), capital, 269, 373. 
Hymettus (Monte Matto), 633. 
Hypanis (Kuban), river, 92. 

L 

lassos (As6m-Kalesl), city ir, Cari.a, 268. 

Ibar, river, 566. 

Iberus (Ebro), river, 167. 

Ibelin, castle, 342. 

Ibn-Kasin, 575. 

Icauna (Youne), river, 70. 

Iceland, 298. 

I-Colm-Kill, 101, 220, 286. 

Iconium (Konieh), 19, 264, 325, 827, 627, 

628, 630, 
Idanha-Velha, castle, 579, bishopric, 593. 
Idsted, battlefield of, 222, 444- 
Iglau, 516. 
Ikaros. island, 268. 
Ilion (Troy), 268. 
Ilia (Isle), river, 239. 
Illiberi (Cjranada), metropolitan see, 593. 
Illyricum, 82, 45, 132. 
Ilmen, lake, 107, 226, 459. 
Imaus (Emodus), mountains, 88. 
Imbros, island, 251, 269, 370, 371, 610, 622. 
Immervad, battle of, 444. 
Imola, 153, 405. 
Imperial cities, 71, 402. 
Inada (Thynias), 683. 
Indian Ocean, 197. 
Indre, river, 479. 
Indus, river, 197, 
Ingelheim, 171. 
Ingoldstadt, 527. 
Inn (Aenus), river, 132. 
Inner-Szolnok, comitat, 559. 
Innisgall, island, 286. 
Inoni"; 628, 

Innstadt (Boiodurum), 48. 
Inspruck, capital, 52.5, 
Insula Sancti Julii, duchy of, 152, 
Intramonti (Piedmont), principality, 413. 
Inver-bervy, 436. 
lona (cell of Saint Columba), island, 101, 

220. 

episcopal see, 2S6, 
loannina, in Albania, 360, 624, 635. 
Ionia, in Asia Minor, 370, 
Ionian Islands, 360. 



226 



GEOGEAPHICAL INDEX. 



lonopolis, 265. 

los, island, 622. 

Tpek, patriarchate, 571. 

Iporedia or Eborcja (Ivrea), 152, 246, 251. 

Ipsara. See Psara. 

Ir.ik, 329. 

Irak-Arabi (Babylonia), 207, 829, 281, 2S3. 

lr;\n (Persia), 8S6. 

Iran, sultanate, 329. 

Irati, river, 1S4. 

Inninseule^ 174. 

Ireland (Hibernia), 100, 141, 21S, 2S3, 875, 

42S, 429. 
Irtisch, river, 638. 
Isara or Esna (Olse), river, 181. 
Isara (Isere), river in the Alps, 69. 
Isauria, 14, 327. 
Isenburg, county, 542. 
Ishbilia. See Sevilla. 
Isle, river, 473. 
Isle de France, duchy of, 306, 3S8, 464, 

484 
Isle-Jourdain, county, 473. 
Islington, 434. 
Isnikmid. See Nicomedia. 
Isnik. See Nic£ea. 
Isny, 544 

Isonzo (Sontius), river, 52, 130. 
Ispahan, 329. 
Isparti, 629. 
Isschilli (Isauria), 640. 
Issefjord, frith in Sealand, 106, 292. 
Istakhar (Persepolis), 211. 
Istambul (Constantinople), 633. 
Istambul-Bogbazi (Bosphorus), 633. 
Isthmus of Suez, 206, 
Istib (Stoboi), 38. 
Istria, 52, 187, 252, 607. 
Istros, city on the Danube, 269. 
Italy, 49, 133, 189, 152, 153, 185, 186, 187, 

251, 252, 270, 271, 272, 321, 322, 323, 405- 

424, 606-617. 
Itbumi, 628. 

Ithak.a, island of, 270, 860, 621. 
Itb.apolis, 269. 
Itius (Calais), 73, 251. 
Ivrea (Iporedia, Iporeja), marquisate, 2l\, 

252,413,611. 
Iwerskoi, monastery, 459. 



J. 



Jaca, county, 257, 595. 
Jacob's Ford, castle on, 844. 
Jadera (Zara), 168, 260. 

" arcliiepiscopacy, 571. 
Jaen, 587, 588, 590. 

Jiurnbojraland (raining district), 225, 440. 
Jaicza, 565. 
Jakubi, 218. 
Jantra, river, 569. 
Jauua (Geneva), 119. 
Janua (Genoa), 153. 
Jaroslaw, principality, 458, 563. 
Jaschy (Yassy), capital of Moldavia, 570. 
Jauer, duchy, 455. 
Jauriuni. See Raab. 
Jays, county, 413. 

Jaxartes (Sihun), river, 197, 212, 326, 639. 
Jazyges, 33, 4,5, 90, 560. 
Jedburgh, castle, 288. 
Jelez, principality, 458. 
Jellinge, in Jutland, 222. 
Jemteland, 441. 
Jerusalem, 11, 194, 204, 385. 

" kingdom of, a36— 348. 
Jerven, province, 377. 
Jesi, bishopric, 616. 
Jezreel (Esdrielon). plain of, 34-3. 
Joigny, county, 489 
Joinville, lordship, 489, 529. 
Jomsborg, republic of pirates, 295, 377. 
Jotunheira (Finnland), 86. 
Joppe (YafVi), 204. 
Josselin, 470. 
Julich-Berg, duchy, 532. 
Julian Alps, 52, 251. 
Jurburg, castle, 452. 
Jurumenha, castle, 577. 
Justhnana Prima (Ulpiana), 35. 
Justinopolis (Capo d'lstria), 187 
Jylland (Jutland). 82, 294, 378. 

K. 

Kabarda, 460. 

Kadcsiah, 207. 

Kadmus, castle, 364. 

Kiirnthen. See Carinthia. 

Kainuiion (Gortyna), 39. 

Kahira (Cairo), 366. 

Kiiirouan, 198, 213, 280, 281, 338, 643. 

Kaisarieh, in Palestine, 204. 

Kaiserwiese, 527. 

Kaiserswerth, 310. 

Kalaat .lahasseb, 604. 

Kalamata, barony in Messenia, 356, 357. 

Kalauria (Poros), island, 359. 

Kalavryta, baronj', 357, 358. 

Kalemherg (Mons Cetius), 48. 

Kalendslian, castle, 3Q4. 

Kali Kala, defile, 208. 

Kalisch, province, 312, 449. 

Kalka, river, 304, 315, 385, 456. 

Kallipolis, duchy of, 359, 629, 632. 

Kallundborg, 293. 

Kalomna, principality, 458. 

Kaluga, 458. 

Kalymnos, island, 267, 362. 

Kama, river, 195, 460. 

Kamicniec, 452. 

Kamp, plain in Holstein, 377. 

Kanain, castle, 364. 

Kandahar, 639. 

Kan dura. 62.'5. 

Kanobin, patriarchate, 345, 

g&nodsolil, 275. 

Kantarim. See Santarein, 

P'Soth^ra-el-Scyf See Alnunt^c/), 



Kapidaba, 269. 

Kaptchak, on the Volga, 885, 456, 638. 

Karabuna, 630. 

Kara-Denghiz (Black Sea), 633. 

Karaman, province, 628, 6.30. 

Karasi, province, 628, 629. 

Karakorum, capital of the Mongols, 385. 

Karitena, barony, 357. 

Karkis. See Carchis. 

Karisburg, 562, 571. 

Karmath, 299. 

Karrffi (Charran), 205. 

Kart-Birt, castle, 347. 

Kasan, chanate of, 450, 460, 638. 

Kasbek, 90, 208. 

Kasbin, 277. 

Kashgar, 637. 

Kasimow, principality, 458. 

Kasseres. See Ciiceres. 

Kastaluna, 604. 

Kastellorizzo, 629. 

Kastemuni, province, 626, 630. 

Kastroma, principality, 458. 

Katai, villages of the Petchegenes, 254. 

Kathay (China), 686. 

Karafxrevov (Bosphorus), 7. 

Katolimne. 610. 

Kattegat, 222, 294. 

Kauf beuren, 544. 

Kehef, castle on Mount Lebanon, 364. 

Kelle, in Macedonia, 269. 

Kells, synod of, 283. 

Kemnitz, mining district, 560. 

Kempten, 544. 

Kenilworth, castle, 434. 

Kenisa-el-Gorab, 575. 

Keos, island, 855, 622. 

Kerak, castle of, 342. 

Kerasos, 874. 

Kerbela, on the Euphrates, 207. 

Kerkoporta (Circusgate), at Constantino- 
ple, 638. 

Kerman. province in Persia, 212, 628. 

Kermian, province in Asia Minor, 628, 6.9. 

Kerpen, 582. 

Kerry, county of 288. 

Kesch, in Bukhara, 637. 

Keydany, province, 452. 

Kexholm, 301. 

Kheliit, sultanate of, 328, 627, 631. 

Khodavend-Kiar. province, 628. 

Khorasan, 275, 826. 

Khowaresm, state of, 276, 627, 637. 

Khozaric Sea (Caspian), 70. 

Khusistan (Susiana), 211. 

Kibi-Mesr (Middle Egypt), 206, 366. 

Klbotus, 327, 628. 

Kibyrra, 267, 

Kiel, in Holstein, 377, 403. 

Kiew (Kijof ), 107, 451, 226. 
gi-and-duchy, 302. 

Kila (Chelce), 613." 

Kildare, county, 283, 429. 

Killdara, monastery, 141. 

Klldrummie, castle, 486. 

Kilkenny, 28-3. 

Kimolos, island, 861. 

Kincardine, 486. 

King's Path, near Bergen, 297. 

King's Crag, near Fife, 436. 

Kingshorn, 436. 

Kinnesrin (Chalcis), 204. 

Kjolen mountain.s, 223. 

Kiptshak, 276. 

Kirchberg, 527. 

Kirdkuh, castle of, 364 

Kirkwall, 487. 

Kis-Kunszag, district, 560. 

Kisil Irmak, river, 626, 681. 

Kissos (Tshesme), 629. 

Kitharizon, 266. 

Klagenfurt, 526. 

Klausenburg, 562. 

Kliasma, river, 802. 

Kobi, desert, 637. 

Kockel, river, 561. 

Kodja-lli, province, 628. 

Konigsberg, city, 382, 403. 

Konigsfelden, nunnery, 352. 

Koros, comitat, 559. 
river, 558. 

Kohestan, 277. 

Kolchis, on the Euphrates, 266. 

Kolimbria. See Coimbra. 

Kolomieh, near Jerusalem, 340. 

Koloneia, forti-ess, 206. 

Kolos, comitat, 559. 

Kolosvar, 562. 

Komorn. See Comorn, 562, 557. 

Koms, in Taberistan, 209, 277. 

Konge-Aae, river, 222, 295. 

Kongsgaard (royal residence), at Eoes- 
kikle, 293, 

Konghelle. fortress, 223. 

Konijah (Konieh). See Iconium. 

Konur, castle, 632. 

Koord, castle, 345. 

Koron, city, 196, 356, 358, 359, 607, 621. 
bishopric, S6T, 

Koroneia, castle of, 355. 

Korselitze, Vendic settlement in Den- 
mark, 298. 

Korsholni, castle, 801, 442. 

Korthoba. See Cordova. 

Kortryck (Courtray), 467. 

Knoc-tuadth, 429. 

Knowno, 452. 

Korecz, principality, 451, 

Kos, island, 267, 862. 

Koseir, city of, 366. 

Kosovo, in the Morea, 196. 

Kossowa, in Servia, 367, 566, 363. 

Kossowo-Polje, 566. 

Kosus, in Egypt, 366. 

Koundoura, in the Morea, 356. 

Kourland, principality, 305. 

Krain. See Carniola, 

Krakova, province, 565. 

Krakau (Cracow), 250, 812, 4,50, 



Krajewo, 570. 

Kralowa, in Servia, 660. 

Kramitze, 298. 

Krapak, mount, 556. 

Krassova, comitat, 558. 

Kraszna, comitat, 558. 

Kremsier, 516. 

Kreml, castle of Moscow, 457. 

Krogen (Elsinore), 293. 

Krohstadt, in Transylvania, 561. 

Kruschevacz, 566. 

Krzemieniec, city, 451. 

Kuhhet-es-Siikhrah (Dome of the Eock), 
on Mount Moriah, 389. 

Kubina, piincipallty, 458. 

Kuditze, 293. 

KiikiiUo, comitat, 559. 

Kiissnacht, castle, 552. 

Kufstein, fortress, 527. 

Kiirun-el-Hattin, 839, 843. 

Kufaji, 207, 274. 

Kula'at-Ailosor, 255. 

Kumania, 315, 560. 

Kunobitza, defile, 569. 

Kur (Cyrus), river, 208. 

Kurdistan, 208. 

Kurkendsh, 276. 

Kur-Sachsen, 898, 518. 

Kustryn, province, 812. 

Kuttenberg, 515. 

Kybistra, 266. 

Kyburg, county of, 396, 523, 548, 549, 558. 

Kyllene (Glarenza), in Elis, 358. 

KvK\w0iov (Seven Towers), at Constan- 
tinople, 7, 633. 

Kypselto, 632. 

Kyrialand, 442. 

Kyriala (Carelia), in Finnland, 225, 301. 

Kyriala-Bottu (Finnic Gulf), 225, 801, 378. 

Kythuos, island, 622. 

L. 

Laaland, island, 298, 878. 

Labeatis Laeus (of Scodra), 6, 35, 624. 

Labuta, mount, 277. 

Lacedffimon (Sparta), 196, 269, 356, 857, 

358, 607, 625. 
Ladoga, lake of, 226, 801. 
Ladon, valley of the, 358. 
Lafuitz, river, 556. 
Lagenia (Leinster;, 100, 219. 
Lagoons of Venice, 272, 608. 
Lagos, in Algarve, 582. 
Lagosta, island, 564. 
Lahn, river, 537. 

La Mancha (Manxa), 816, 588, 592. 
La-Marche, county, 240, 469, 480, 499. 
La-Marche, in Brittany, 893. 
Lambeth Moor, 484. 
Lambro, river, 407. 
Lamego, 316, 580. 
Lamia (Zeltuni), 269, 855, 373. 
Lampsakos, 268, 629. 
Lamsir, castle, 279, 346, 864. 
Lamtuna, desert of, 574, 646. 
Lanark, county, 288. 
Landen, castle of, 162, 171. 
Landau, 544. 

Landes, in Gascogne, 481. 
Landscrona, on the Neva, 442. 
Landshut, capital, 398, 527. 
Langeland, island, 878. 
Langholm, border castle, 288. 
Langres, bishopric of, 892. 
Languedoc, cougty, 470, 480, 493. 
LaodiciEa, in Phrygia, 20, 264, 629. 
Laodica?a, in Syria, 846. 
Laon, city, 114, 807, 489. 
" county, 281. 
" bishopric, 888, 390. 
Laos (Aous, V'o.oussa), river in Albania, 

270, 624. 
Lapmark (Qainland), 86 
Largs, 437. 
Larissa, 39, 373. 
Laristan, 829. 
Larnaca (Kition), 350. 
La-Koclie-Derieu, 470. 
Las Navas de Tolosa, 591. 
Lateran, in Kome, 311. 
Latium Vetus, 56. 
La Tour, seigneury of, 889. 
La Tour d'Auvergne, county, 501. 
La Trappe, monastery, 890. 
Lattes, seigniory, 598. 
Lander-Bridge, 436. 
Laudun, seigniory, 502. 
Laudanum (^Laon), 114, 181. 
Lauenberg, in Pomerania, 535. 
Lauenburg, on the Elbe, county, 377. 

duchy, 633. 
Laupen, 553. 
Laureacum (Lorch), 48. 
Lauremburg, 537. 

AavpiaKoi', palace in Constantinople, 7. 
Lausanne, 244, 400, 413, 54& 

" bishopric, 401. 
Lausltz (Lusatia), 312, 516. 
Lauzados, 266. 
Laval, 507. 

Lavellum, county, 322. 
Laverna, monastery, 422. 
Laybach, 526. 
Lazica (Colchis), 626. 
Lebedos, 268. 
Lebida, In Africa, 643. 
Lebus, 517. 
Lepa, castle, 579. 
Lechfield, 258, 
Lcctoure, viscounty, 241. 
" bishopric, 891. 
Leftro (Leuctrou), castle, 358. 
X,eghorn, 403. 
Legationes, districts of the Carlovingian 

missi, 170. 
Legnano (Lignanum), 408, 
Leinster (Lagenia), 100, 
Leipzig, 519, 



Loire, 106, 190, 222. 

Leitha, river, 894, 556. 

Leman, lake, 69. 

Lembcrg. See Leopolis. 

Le-Mans, bishopric of 390. 

Lemuos, island, 22, 851, 359,370,371,610, 

622. 
Lenczyc, province, 812, 449. 
Lenzburg, county, 396. 548. 
Leon, kingdom, 218, 255, 281, 587, 588, 590, 

593 
" ' city of, 31, 317. 
Leondari (Veligosti), in the Morea, 358. 
Leonina Cii>itas (suburb of Kome), 252. 
Leopolis, 451, 563. 

•' archiepiscopacy, 571. 
Lepanto. See >laupactus. 
Le-Pays-Chiirtrain, 475. 
Lepontine Alps, 651. 
Lepta Magna (Lebida), 61. 
Lerici, 610. 
Lerida (Ilerda), 318, 835, 595, 597. 

" bishopric, 690. 
Lero, island, 362. 

Lesbos, island, 22, 851, 852, 870, 622. 
Lescar, bishopric of, 391. 
Lesina, island, 823. 
Lesser Burgundy, 389. 
Lethraborg"(Leire), 106. 
Leuchtenberg, 521. 
Leucosia (Nicosia), 267, 350. 
Leukas (Leucadia, Santa Maura), 270. 

duchy, 360, 619, 621. 
Leuwarden, 497. 
Leyden, 497. 
Leyria, 574, 577, 581. 
Lewes, 4-34. 

Liburnia (Dalmatia), 46, 187. 
Libya, province, 17. 
Lichfield, bishopric, 488. 
Lichtberg, county, 542. 
Lichus (Lech, river), 161, 250. 
Liebau, 882. 

Liige (Liittich), bishopric, 400, 497. 
Liegnitz, 312, 516. 
Lieve, river, 467. 
Liger (Loire), river, 165. 
Ligeris (Liza, Lys), river, 181, 467. 
Ligny, in the Barrois, 488. 
Liguria (Cisalpine Gaul), 51, 153. 
Liimfjord, 82, 222. 
Lika, county, 563. 
Lilybceum (Marsala), 58, 181. 
Limburg. county, in Lorraine, 400, 497, 

530. 
Limburg, county, in TTiirtemberg, 542. 
Limerick, 219, 283. 
Limes Danicus, 222. 
Limes Sorabicus, 249. 
Limevan, castle, 429. 
Limisso (Limasol), 850, 362. 
Limmat, river, 552. 
Limoges, viscounty of, 240, 472. 

" bishopric, 391. 
Limostn, province, 114, 893, 472. 
Lincoln, bishopric, 433. 
Lindau, on the lake of Constance, 544. 
Lindenholm, castle, 438. 
Lindisfarne, monastery, 290, 483. 
Lindores, abbey, 486. 
Lindos, on Ehodes, 362, 623. 
Linkoping, bishopric, 439. 
Lippe, county, 542. 

" river, 75. 
Lippesprlng, 174. 
Lipto, comitat, 657. 
Liris (Garigliano), river, 167, 616. 
Lis, river, 581. 
Lisbon (Lisboa), 403, 577, 581. 

" patriarchate, 585. 
Lisieus, 490. 

bishopric of, 390. 
Lissa, island, 323. 
Lissos. See Alessio. 
Litany (Leontes), river, 844. 
Lithuania, ^and duchy, 802, 305, 376, 402. 
Littorale ot Dalmatia, 563. 
Livadja, castle in Greece, 355. 
Turkish Sandjac, 634. 
Livno, 665. 

Livonia, 305. 377, 379, 454. 
Livorno (Leghorn), 828, 420, 612. 
Livadia, province, 634. 
Lixbona. See Lisbon. 
Llandaff, bishopric, in Wales, 433. 
Llery, county, 597. 
Loches, city, 479. 
Loch Etach (Lake Neath), 100. 
Loch Leven, castle, 436. 
Lodeva (Lodeve), 124. 498. 

bishopric of, 392. 
Lodi(Lauda), republic, 323, 405, 403, 412, 

413. 
Lodomerla (Halicz), 451, 563. 
Lobau, 449. 

Lowen. See Louvain. 
Lowenstein, county, 542. 
Loglano, county, 410. 
Logrono, 217, 257, 590. 
Loja (Ilipula Laus), in Andalusia, 604. 
Lomagne, viscounty of, 241. 
Lombard Kingdom, 152, 186, 351, 311, 405. 
" duchy of Bcneventum, 186, 251, 

252, 270. 
Lombardia Minor, 186, 279. 
Lombez, bishopric, 510. 
Lomellino, county, 405. 
Lomnicza, battlefield of, 615. 
London (Londinium), 71, 78, 403. 

" bishopric, 4-33. 
Longobardia Minor (TeiTa di Bari), ISO. 
Longomeria, 506. 
Longucville, county, 494. 
Lorch rLaureacum), 48. 
Lorraine, duchy of; 228, 246, 400, 503, 592, 

529. 
Los Toros de Guisando, 592. 
Lothian, 292. 
Louie, 677, 682, 
Louth, 429. 



aEOGKAPHICAL INDEX. 



227 



Louvain (Leuva), 248, 497. 

Louviers, 490. 

Lower Lorraine (Netlierlaurts), 529. 

Lowicz, principality, 449. 

Lowlanils of Scotland, 2S7. 

Lowton, in York county, 484. 

Lublin, union-act at, 446, 450. 

Lubus, province, 312. 

Lucania, province, 57. 

Lucca, in Tuscany, 152, 405, 415, 419, 606, 
612. 

Lucau (Lucca), in Saxony, 519. 

Luceria (Lucera), 57, 186, 251. 
Saracen colony at, 424. 

Lucerne, 523, 549. 

Lufon, bishopric, 510. 

Liibeck, 295, 377, 39S, 402, 403, 545, 546. 
bishopric, 401. 

Luneburg, free town, 402, 403, 533. 

Ltineville, 529, 

Lattich. See Liige. 

Liitzelburg. See Luxemburg. 

Lugano, lake of, 554, 609. 

Lngdiinensis I. — IV., provinces, 70. 

Lugdunum (Lyons), 70. 

Lugo, bishopric, 593. 

Luimech (Limerick), 219. 

Lukoml, province, 452. 

Luleaa, 441. 

Luna, county, 597. 

Lund, in Skaane, 222. 

Lundegaard, archiepiscopal see of Den- 
mark, 293. 

Limdensis Provincia, 222, 293, 439 addenda. 

Lundenwyc (London), 104, 291. 

Lunisiaua (Lunigiana). district, 413, 417. 

Lusatia (Lausitz), 250, 309, 312. 

Lu.sitania, 65. 

Lutetia Parisiorum (Paris), 70. 

Luxemburg, county, 248, 397, 400, 488, 
497, 5IJ5, 530. 

Lychnidus, lake, 324. 624. 

Lycaonia, 19, 335, 630. 

Lycia, 20, 327, 629. 

Lydda. in Palestine, 340. 

Lydia, 21, 37(1, 629. 

Lyndinissa (Wolmar), battle of, 377. 

Lyniie. in Lincoln county, 434. 

Lyi'io, island, 876, 877. 

Lyonnais, county, 469. 

Lyons, city of, 70, 182, 309, 469. 
archivescovate, 393. 
county of, 244, 389, 469. 

Lys, river, 467, 

M. 

Macalb, in Lombardy, 009, 

Macedonia, 35, 37, 194, 269. 

Macerata, bishopric, 616. 

Machou, banat of, 566. 

Macon (Mascon), county, 239, 485, 497. 

bishopric of, 392. 
Macra, river, 417. 
Madeira, island, 573, 582. 
Madenielo, 590. 
Madrid (Margarita), in Castile, 255, 816, 5SS, 

589, 590. 
Madrigal, 592. 
Madrono, 604. 

Mieandros (Mendcre), river, 20, 264, 269. 
Mailarn, 100, 190, 222,440. 
Ma:nus (Mayn), river, 71, 162, 249, 250. 
Maen, cas le in Palestine, 342. 
Mafra. 581. 
Magdalona (M.aguelonne), 124, 157. 

bishopric of, 392. 
Magdeburg, 249. 

archbishopric, 401. 
Maglay, fortress, 635. 
Magliano, bishopric, 616. 
Magnesia, 263, 629. 
.Magnum Varadium. See Bellarad. 
Miigoniiacum (Mainz), 71, 171. 
Mayvovfiu, palace in Constantinople, 7. 
Ma^'i'cb (Western Africa), 213, 214. 281, 

334, 644. 
Magnelonne (Magalonne), 124, 157. 
Magyar-Orzag (Hungary), 253, 314, 556. 
.Mahadia (Kairouan), kingdom, 281, 822, 

333, 643. 
Mahadia, city near Algiers, 644. 
Malum, in Khorwaresm, 627. 
Mallei, at Nazareth, 348. 

Mahon, port, 66, 598. 

Mail ezais, bishopric, 510. 

Maina See Mani. 

Maine, county of, 238, 3S7, 393, 465, 486, 502. 

Mainz (Magontia), 71. 

archbishopric, 249. 
electorate, 513. 

Makran, province in Asia, 212. 

Wakryplaghi, mount in Arcadia, 621. 

Makri. in Lycia, 029. 

Malabar, coast of, 586, 641. 

Malaga (Malakka), 604. 

Malaspina, margraviate, 413, 599, 611. 

Malatesta, county, 422. 

Malatia fMelitene), 25, 837,342, 631. 

Maledictus Mons (Lesser Saint Bernhard), 
418. 

Malfii. See Amalli, 

Malamocco (Madamaucum), 272, 608. 

Malazkerd, 324. 

Malea, promontory, 269, 358. 

Malines, 497. 

Mallorca (Mayorca), kingdom, 598. 

Malo-.Taroslavvez, 458. 

Malo-Kussla (Halitoh), 803. 

Malta (Melita), island, 322, 599. 

Malva, liver, 44. 

Mambedsh (Hierapolis), 12, 846, 847. 

Mamistra, 349. 

Man, island, 224, 300, 431. 

Manxa. See La Mancha. 

Manffld Tower, in Siena, 418. 

Mangona, county, 416. 

Mani (Maina), 196, 269, 358. 

M.ans(!e), 116.238, 807. 



Manses (manoi-s), subdivision of Carlo- 

vingian territories, 170. 
Mansourah, on the Nile, 366. 
Mansura (Sciiidy), 212. 
Mantes, county, 488. 
Mantua, 405, 412. 
Maqueda, 316, 590. 
Marasch Germanicia, on Mount Amanns. 

335, 631. 
Marathon, 325. 

Marca Anconensis, 311, 422, 61.3. 
Marca Andegavensis, ISO. 
Marca Avarica, 187. 
Marca Bohemica (Nordgau), 188. 
Marca Hispanica ( Gothias), 184. 
Marca Oricntalis, 179, 188, 250, 523. 
Marca Navarrensis, 257. 
Marca Sliasvyk, 249. 
Marca Sorabica, 188. 
Marca Trevisana, 414. 
Marca Vasconensis, 174. 
Marca "Windorum (Windische Mark), 188. 
Marburg, capital, 513, 540. 
March (Morava), river, 894, 556. 
Marchfeld, 899, 524, 
3[arciana Silva (Black forest), 78. 
Marcianopolis, 31, 136. 
Mardin, sultanate of, 281, 828. 
Mare Cantabricum (Bay of Biscay), 255. 
Maregard, castle, 346. 
3Iai-emme of Tuscany, 417, 418, 612. 
Margns (Morava), 83, 324, 566. 
Maria Magdalena, nunnery at Jerusalem, 

3.39 
Mariazell, 526. 

Marienburgh, capital, 879, 381, 449. 
Marienwerder, 382, 449. 
Marida. See Merida. 
Marignano, 554. 
Mariscus, river. See Maros. 
Maritima, district, 422, 613. 
Maritza (Hebrus), river, 30, 353, 632. 
Markeii (communes), subdivision of Car- 

lovingian territories, 170. 
Marlow, 878 
Marmaros (Marmarosb), frontier province, 

314, 560. 
Marocco. See Morocco. 
Maros (Marosh), district, 559. 

river, 83, 253, 559, 560, 561. 
Marr, county, 2. 
Marra, castle, 846. 
Mai-sala (Lilybajum), 58, 131. 
Marseilles, 69, 147, 244, 809, 403. 

bishopric of, 392. 
Marta, river, 185. 
Martesana, district, 407 
Mary-le-bone, 434. 
Martigny, 551. 
Mascara, 644. 
Massa, 415. 

Massilla. See Marseilles. 
Masyad, castle, 364. 
Matcbin, 569. 
Mate Grifon, castle, 858. 
Matesco (Mascon), 70. 
Matrona Mons (Mont Genuvre), 51. 
Maupertuis, battle of, 463, 472. 
JlaurJo, castle, 586. 

Maurieime (M.auriana), county of, 389, 413. 
Mauritania, 62, 65, 
Mauron-Oros, 626. 
Mawar-al-Nahr (Sogdiaua), 212, 275, 826, 

637. 
Mayence (Mainz), 71. 
Mayn (Main), river, 71, 162, 249, 250. 
Mayorca (Palma), 66, 598. 
Maxima Caasariensis, province, 73. 
Maxima Sequanorum, province, 71. 
Mazagan, 582. 

Mazac.i (Ctesarea), in Cappadocia, 26, 631. 
Mazanderan, on the Caspian, 209, 277 
Mazara, in Armenia, 266. 
Mazovia, duchy, 312, 449. 
Mazzara (Val di), province in Sicily, 599. 

city, 599. 
Meath, in Ireland, 100, 219. 
county of, 283, 429. 
Meaux (Meldie), 115, 484. 

bishopric, 391. 
Mecheln. See Malines. 
Mecklenburg, bishopric, 401. 

duchy, 522, 534. 
Medchellet (Margarita). See Madrid, 255. 
Medenblic, 400. 
Media (Meath), kingdom in Ireland, 100, 

219. 
Media, in Asia, 8, 209, 210. 
Medicina, county, 410. 
Medina-al-Nebi, 201. 
Medinaceli, 590. 
Medina-dcl-Campo, 590. 
Medina-de-la-Oerda, county, 538. 
Medina-al-Salam. See Bagdad. 
Medina Sidonia, 587, 588, 590. 
Mediolanum. See Milan. 
Medniki, bishopric in Poland, 449. 
Meduana (Le Mans), 116. 
Megalopolis, 358. 
Meissen (Misnia), 247, 518. 

bishopric, 401. 
Mekhines, kingdom of, 198. 
Mekka, 197, 201, 
Melangeia, 627. 
Melastadir, 299, 
MeldiB (Meaux), 115. 
Meldorf, 445. 
Medelpad, 441. 
Meldunum (Melun), 115, 148. 
Meleda, island in the Adriatic, 564. 
Melegnano, 408. 

Melitene, on the Euphrates. See Malatia. 
Melito, city in Calabria, 322. 
Melita. See Malta. 
Mello, castle, 581 . 
Melloria, island, 328, 417. 
Melphia (Melfl), 321. 
Melrose Abbey, 288. 
Melun, viscounty of, 115, 388. 



Memel, city, 882. 

river, (Niemen), 226. 
Memphis, 16, 366. 
Memleben, 249. 
Mende, bishopric, 391, 510. 
MendiS'rS. See Mfeandros. 
Meiievia (St. Davids), bishopric, 433. 
Meninx (Gerbes), island, 61. 
Mentesche, province, 628, 629. 
Mentz (Mainz), arcbbisbopric, 401. 
Mequines (Miknasa), 214, 646. 
Merakasli. See Morocco. 
Meran, county of, 525. 
Mercato del Carmine, at Naples, 424. 
Merch (Marc), city, 474. 
Mercia, kingdom, 143, 289. 
Mergentheim, 453, 543. 
Mergueil, county, 243. 
Merida (Augusta-Emerita), 124, 216, 576, 

588. 
Merindades, provinces of Navai'ra, 602. 
Mernis, viscounty in Scotland, 287. 
Merseburg, 299. 

bishopric, 401. 
Mertola, 575,-577. 

Merv-al-Eud (Alexandria Marglana), 212. 
Mesembria (Missivri), 633. 
Midt], Broadway of Constantinople, 7. 
Mesochaldion, in Pontus, 374. 
Mesopotamia, 13, 205, 278, 847, 681. 
Mesne-flefs of the Normans, 293. 
Mesrin, castle. 846. 
Messenia, 190, 269, 358. 
Messina, 403, 424, 599. 

archiepiscopacy, 617. 
Meschtschera, principality, 468. 
Metellino (Li'sbos), island, 371, 622. 
Methven, 486. 
Metoja, voivodat, 566 
Metz (Mettis), 117, 147, 246, 508. 
archbishopric, 400, 401, 529. 
kingdom, 117. 
Miitzovo, city, 378. 
Meulan, county, 235, 388. 
Mouse (Mosa), river, 63, 80,157, 161,163, 

247, 394. 
Michelow, ten-itory, 453. 
Midaion, 264. 

Miedniki, town in Samogitia, 452, 
Mies, 515. 

Miklenburg (Mecklenburg), county, 877. 
Miknasa (Mequines), 646. 
Milab, in Barbary, 643. 
Milan, 42, 61, 152, 311, 828, 407. 
marquisate, 252. 
archiepiscopacy, 417, 617. 
republic. 405, 408. 
duchy, 606, 609. 
Miletus, 268, 629. 
Millerbach, district, 525. 
Milo (Melos), island, 861. 
Milvius-Pons (Ponte Molle), near Eome, 55. 
Milzieni, province, 312. 
Minco, county in Sicily, 599. 
Minden, bishopric, 401. 
Minerve (Menerbe), county, 318. 
Minerbinum, county, 322. 
Mines in the Hartz, 249. 
Bosnia, 869. 
Dalmatia, 869. 
Karinthia, 526. 
Mingrclian mountains, 874. 
Mino (Minho), river, 816, 573, 680. 
Minorca (Balearis Minor), island, 66, 598. 
Minsk, province, 452. 

Mirabel, seigniory, in Palestine, 342. 

Mirabella, fortress in Crete, 859. 

Miranda do Douro, 570. 

Miranda, on the Mondego, 574. 

Mirande, in Gascony, 242. 

Mirandola, principality, 606, 611. 

Mirebalais, lordsliip, 502. 

Mirthola. See Mertola. 

Misericordia Dei, monastery, 391. 

Misithras (Mistras), in Lakonia, 358, 625, 
635. 

Misnia. See Meissen. 

Missr (Egypt), 366. 

Missr Dakbiliat (Upper Egypt), 866. 

Mistretta, county, 599. 

Miszr (Memphis), 206. 

Mittel-mark, 398, 517. 

Mocha (Muza,) in Arabia, 3, 203. 

Moclin, border castle, 604. 

Modena (Mutina), Lombard duchy, 152. 
republic, 408, 411. 

Modica, 599. 

Modon, in the Morea, 353, 607, 621. 
bishopric, 857. 

Modrusch, bishopric, 571. 

Moen, island, 293, 378. 

Moere, river, 467. 

Molk, convent, 524. 

Miilln, battle at, 376, 877. 

More, in Norway, 190. 

Moesia, province, 31, 34, 269. 

Mogador, 646. 

Moglena, 254. 

Mohammedia. See Bagdad. 

Mohacs, 562. 

iVlohi, 885, 555, 562. 

Mohilew, province, 452. 

Molina, county, 588. 

Molissio, county, 322. 

Moldovlachia, 571. 

Moldavia, principality, 570, 635. 

Momonia (Munster), 100, 219. 

Mona (Anglesea), island, 221. 

Monaco, 610. 

Monapia Insula (Man), 221. 

Moncada, barony, 597. 

Monchique, mountains, 575. 

Mondego, river, 255, 574, 580. 

Mondonedo, bishopric, 593. 

Mondovi, 611. 

Monembasia, fortress, 856, 858, 607, 621. 

Monforte, fortress, in Portugal, 580. 

Monforte, countv, in Sicily, 599. 

Mongolistan, 885, 636. 



Mongol empire, 335, 456, 460, 686, 639. 
Monjulch, castle of Barcelona, 597. 
Monreal, fortress, 597. 
Mons, in Hainaut, 497. 
Mons-en-Puelle, 467. 
Monsanto, castle, 679. 
Mons Ferrandus, 345. 
Mons Pelegrinum, 845. 
Mons Petrosus, monastery, 891. 
Mons Eegalis(Schobek), castle, 242. 
MonseiTat, 597. 
Monspilosus, county, 322. 
Montaille, 244. 
Montalegre, 590. 
Montauban, bishopric, 510. 
Montbrison, 469, 501. 
Montdidier, 496. 
Mont d'Or, 501. 
Monteaperto, 416, 420. 
Monte Cascioli, 416. 
Monte Casino, 822. 
Monte Catini, 420. 
Monte Cazorta, 604. 
Montefeltro, county of, 422. 
bishopric, 616. 
Montemor, 580. 
Monte-Murio, 420. 
Monte Negro (Czernagora), 565. 
Montereau, 478, 484. 
Monte Sumano, 420. 
Monte Varchi, 420. 
Montferrat, marquisate of, 252, 405, 606, 

611. 
Montflchet. tower, 484. 
Montfort, county in Brittany, 488. 
Montfort, lordship in Syria, 344. 
Montfort I'Amaury, county, 300, 504. 
Montlhery, lordship of, 396. 

castle of, 509. 
Montiel, 592. 

Montmartre, abbey, 464, 487. 
Montmedy, 497. 
Montmorency, 306, 488, 505. 
Montpellier, seigniory of, 243, 365, 493, 594. 

bishopric, 392. 
Montpensier, county, 500. 
Montreale, archiepiscopacy, 617. 
Montreuil, viscounty, 464, 474. 
Monuments of Pisa, 417. 
Monza, 152, 411. 
Monzon, 318, 597. 
Moorflelds of London, 434. 
Mopsvestia. See Mamistra. 
Mora Steen, in Sweden, 106. 
Morat (Murten), 418, 475. 
Morava (Margus), river, 824, 566. 
(March), river, 516, 566. 
Moravia, border-province, 250, 309, 312, 

516. 
Morbihan, 470. 
Morea, peninsula, 196, 607. 

principality of, 886, 356, 625. 
Ejalet, 635. 

Morgamog (Glamorganshire), 103. 

Morgarten, 511. 554. 

Moriah, mount, 204, 335. 

Morisen.a, bishopric, 571. 

Morocco, kingdom, 214, 334, 574, 583, 642, 
645, 646. 

Mortagne, city and lordship, in Saintonge, 
477. 

Mortain, county, 490, 494. 

Mortimer's Cross. 434. 

Morven, peninsula of, 287! 

Mosa (Mouse, Maas), river, 80, 157,162, 163. 
247, 394. 

Moscovia of the Czars, 457. 

Mosella, river, 103. 

Moshaisk, principality, 458. 

Moskopolis, 624. 

Moskow (Moscow), capital, 226, 304, 457. 
principality, 308. 
grand duchy, 428, 456, 467. 

Moskwa, river, 804. 

Mosony, comitat, 557. 

Mosque Al-Aksa, at Jerusalem, 339. 

Mosque of Omar, 204, 381, 339. 

Mossbach, 520. 

Mossul (Nineveh), 278, 330, 335, 338, 347. 

Mostar, 565. 

Mosynopolis, 853. 

Motercba (Tmutarakan), 226. 

Moudon, 413, 551. 

Moulin, capital, 469, 501. 

Mount Cenis, 418. 

Mount Hradistie, 615. 

Mount Tabor, in Bohemia, 515. 

Mount Tabor, castle, in Galilee, 848. 

Mount Zisca, 515. 

Moura, castle, 577. 

Moutier en Tarantaise,arclibishopric, 401. 

Mstislaw. city, 456. 

Mucro (Mugrone), valley, 65. 

Mudania, gulf, 628. 

Miihldorf, near Amfingen, 511. 

Miihlhausen, 539, 551. 

Miihlenbacb, 561. 

Miimpelgard, county, 496, 528. 

Miinster, bishopric, 249, 401 

Mugello, 415, 416. 

Muglah (Hylarim.a), 629. 

Mulda, river, 586. 

Mull, island of, 287. 

Mull of Cantire, 286. 

Multan, on the Indus, 212, 275. 

Munich (Miinchen), 393, 527. 

Munkacs, fortress, 562. 

Munster, in Ireland, 100. 

Mur, river, 526. 

Muradal, defile in Sierra Morena, 816. 

Murbiher. See Murviedro). 

Murcia, kingdom, 333, 588, 590. 

Murg, river, 588. 

Muro, castle, 615. 

JSu?'o Storto of Belisarius, 139. 

Murom, city, 226. 

principality, 458. 

Murray (Moraviensis), diocese, 287. 

Marazzi of Venice, 608, 



228 



GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX. 



Mursa, on tho Dr.ive, 47. 

Murvledro (Saguntum), 820. 

Musaki, district in Upper Albania, 624. 

Musara, near Cordova, 215. 

Mutah, 202. 

Mutilgnano, county, 416. 

Mutina. See Modena. 

Muztag, mount, 19T, 329, 637. 

Mykoni, island, 359. 

Mylassa, -67. 

Myra, 20, 629. 

Myrleiii, 264. 

Mysia, in Asia Minor, 370. 

Myria (Mffisia, Bulgaria), province, 269. 

Mzcislaw, voivodat, 452. See Mstislaw. 



N. 

Nabao, castle, 579, 
Nadrauen, district, 380. 
Niifels, battle of, 512, 553. 
Nagy-Kunszag, district, 560. 
Nahr-Joba, river, 345. 
Nahr-el-Kebir, river, 345. 
Nabr-el-Melk, river, 346. 
Kaisus, city, 84, 324. 
Najara, 257, 592. 
Naion, river, 255. 
Namnete. See Nantes. 
Namur, marquisate, 485, 496. 

county, 542. 
Nancy, capital, 495, 503, 509. 
Nantes, (Namnete), 111, 115, 157, 470, 476. 

bishopric, 390. 
Nanzianzos, in Cappadocia, 266. 
Naples (Neapolis), 57, 139, 194, 270, 375, 

395, 403, 614. 

arcliiepiscopacy, 617. 

duchy, 153, .321. 

kingdom, 375, 422, 423, 428, 614, 

615. 
Napulus (Naplus), county of, 342. 
Narbo Martins (Narbonne), 69. 
Narbonensis, province, 69. 
Narbonne (Narbo Martius), 69, 157, 216. 
viscounty, 480. 
archiepiscopacy, 392, 510. 
Narenta, pirates' nest, 260, 272, 314. 
Narev, river, 449. 
Narni, bishopric, 616. 
Narva, 377, 3S2, 403. 
Naso, in Sicily, 599. 
Na.'ssau, city and castle, 537. 
Natansen, district, 305, 380. 453. 
Natis (Noto), in'Sicily, 322. 
Natolia (Anadoli), 325. 
Naumburg, bishopric, 401. 
Naumdalen, 223. 

Naupactus (Lepanto), 269, 372, 607. 
Nanplia (Napoli di Romania), 196, 356, 358, 

621. 
Navarra, kingdom, 218, 257, 281, 318, 601, 

C05. 
Navarrete, on the Ebro, 592. 
Navas de Tolosa, .325, 591. 
Namglio Grande, of Milan, 407. 
Nazareth, 348. 
Naxos, duchy of, 336. 622. 
Neapolis (Naplus), city, 342. 
Neapolis (Naples), 57. 
Neaulle, lordship of, 504. 
Neckar, river, 109, 520. 
Negroponte (Eubcea), county, 359, 607, 634. 
Neai Patrai (Patrachik), 269, 355, 373, 594. 

duchy, 694, 620. 
Nehevend, 210. 
Neisse, 516. 
Neithra, comitat, 557. 

bishopric, 571. 
Nemograd (Novgorod), 226. 
Nemours, duchy oC 508. 
Neocajsarea, 23, 264, 266. 
Neograd, comitat, 557. 
Neokastron, in Khodes, 623. 
NerlcanusTractus, 67. 
Nerike, 225, 440. 
Nesbin (Nisibis), 205. 
Nestved, 293. 
Neta, river in Italy, 186. 
Netad (Neutra), river in Hungary, 109* 12?. 
Netherlands under Burgundy, -497, 498. 
Nevers, county, 289, 467, 4S5, 496. 
Neville's Cross, battle of, 434. 
Netze, river, 312. 
Neuburg, in Bavaria, 527. 
Neuburg, near Vienna, 524. 
Neuchatel, county, 496, 506, 551. 
Neumark, district, 380, 517. 
Neu-Sohl, mining district, 560. 
Neustria, in Lombardy, 1.52. 
Neustria, in France, 146, 154, 157, 180,. 
Neutra (Netad). 109». 
Newark, Lincolnshire, 434. 
Newcastle, on tho Tyne, 286. 
Newcastle, in Ireland, 429. 
NeAV Epirus, 270. 
New-Forest, 434. 

New-Grodek. See Nowo-Grodek. 
Nezib, castle, 347. 
Nicaria, island, 371, 610, 622. 
Nicaja, 28, 264, 325, 351, 628. 
Nichapur, 212, 385. 
Nicomedia, 28, 265, 325, 628. 
Nicopolis (Prevesa), in Epirus, 38, 279. 
Nicopolis, in Bulgaria, 367, 569, 625, 635. 
Nicosia, .350. 

Nidaros (Thronhiem), 219, 286. 
Niddesdalp, 288. 
Niebla, 587, 538. 
Niemen, river, 226, 879, 452. 
Nikli (Sclavonic city in the Morea), 269. 

barony and bishopric, 357. 
Nikomedia, 325. 

Nile, river, 16, 205, 280, 866, 640. 
Nilufar, river, 02S. 
Nimes (Ncmausus), 124, 157, 498. 
county, 242. 
bishopric, 392. 



Nio (los), island, 861. 

Niort, in Poitou, 476. 

Nischabuhr, 275. 

Nischni-Novgorod, principality, 458. 

Nisibis, 18, 135, 205, 631. 

Nissa (Naissus), 34. 

Nissawa, vol vodat, 566. 

Nisyros, island, 267, 862. 

Nivelles, 497. 

Nivernais, 485. 

Nizza, 216, 418. 

Nocera de' Pagani, near Naples, 139, 424. 

Nocera, in Umbria, bishopric, 616. 

Nordlingen, 544. 

Noteborg, on the Ladoga, 442. 

Nogat, river, 879. 

Noirmoutier, island, 474. 

Nola, 57. 

Nora, river, 255. 

Nordalbingia (Holstein), 173, 222, 377. 

Nordgau (Marca Bohemica), 188. 

landgraviate in Alsace, 539. 
Nordhausen, 247. 
Nordmark (Brandenburg), 517. 
Norham, upon Tweed, 436. 
Norfolk, 290. 

Noricum, province, 48, 149. 
Norlendi. See Nordalbingia, 178. 
Normandy, duchy, 286, 387, 393, 465, 4S4, 

490. 
Norrlaud, 440, 541. 
North-Allerton, battle of, 434. 
Northampton, battle of, 484. 
North Cape, 223. 
North-Eider, 222. 
North Friesland, 222 
Northumbria, 104, 143, 286, 289. 
North Wealas (Cambria), 103. 
Northwicum, bishopric, 438. 
Norway (Norrige, Norge), 85, 190, 218, 223, 

281, 282, 296, 375, 428, 438, 443. 
Noto, 599. 

Novara, 405, 412, 609. 
Notre Dame, cathedral of, Paris, Sll, 464. 
Novempulana (Vasconia), 68. 
Novgorod, republic, 107, 226, 804, 385, 403, 

456, 559. 
Novgorod Seversky, 446. 
Nowogrodek, city, 384, 452. 

principality, 305. 
Novi-Bazar, capital, 368. 
Noyon, city, 807. 

bishopric, 388, 390. 
Nubia, 179, 206. 
Niirnberg, republic, 402, 544. 
burgraviate, 399. 
margraviate, 541. 
Numidia, province, 62, 140. 
Nura, river, 411. 
Nurmegund, province, 377. 
Nykiiping, 440. 
Nyland, 442. 

Nyssa, in Cappadocia, 266. 
Nystad, castle, 301, 442. 

O. 

Oak of tho Thirty Champions, in Brittany, 

470. 
Obdoria, on Mount Oural, 456. 
Ober-Pfalz, 520. 
Oberwyl, in Berne, 553. 
Ocaila, diet of, 590. 
Oceanus Septentriojialis, 76, 87. 
Odemira, bay of, 581. 
Odenwald, forest, 78. 
Oder (Viadrus), river, 168, 188, 249, 250, 

295, 380, 385, 394, 517, 585. 
Odinsey (Fyen), 222, 293. 
Odense (seat of Odin), 222, 293. 
Odins-sala, 106. 
Oedenburg, comitat, 557. 
Oeiras, 681. 
Oeland, island, 489. 
Oeresund (Sound), toll of the, 292. 
Oesel, island and bishopric, 377, 380, 444, 

449, 454. 
Oester-Bottn, 442. 
Oettingen, county, 542. 
Ofanto (Aufldus), river, 270, 322. 
Ofen(Old), orBuda, 47. 
Offa's Dyke, on the Dee and Severn, 221, 

292. 
Ofrenus, lake, 346. 
Ohod, mount, 202. 
Ohrheim, 174 
Oka, river, 226. 

Oksonoba (Estoi), in Algarvo, 575. 
Oinaion, in Pontus, 374." 
Oise (Esia), river, 231. 
Oitosch, pass, 562. 
Old-Breisach, 538. 
Oldenburg, bishopric, 401. 

county, 542. 
Old London Bridge, 434. 
Olenos, bishopric, 859. 
Oliiron, island, 474. 

bishopric, 391. 
Olite, in Navarra, 602. 
Oliva, city, 449. 
Olivenza, 581. 
Olivet, mount, 340. 
Olmedo, 590, 592. 
Olmutz (Olomuc), 250, 516. 

bishopric, 401. 
Olona, river, 407. 
Olney, island, treaty of, 291. 
Olou-Djami, great mosque, at Brusa, 628. 
Olszany, province, 452. 
Oltus (Lot), river, 242. 
Olympus, mount (Cyprus), 350. 
Olympus, mount (Bithynia), 607. 
Olynthos, 269. 
Omelas, 594, 
Onain, river, 486. 
Onega, lake, 301. 
Oneglia, 610. 
Oporto, 580. 



Oppein, 516. 

Opsara, island, 328. 

Opslo, in Norway, 223, 443, 345. 

Orach (Suitowa), province in Bosnia, 565. 

Oran, 644, 

Orange (Aransium), city, 129. 

principality on tho Ehone, 506. 

bisliopric. 392. 
Orcades. See Orkneys. 
Orense, bishopric, 593. 
Oreos (Xerochori), fortress, 355, 359. 
Orez, border-castle, 604. 
Orfah (Edessa), 13, 347. 
Orkney Islands. 106, 219, 224,, 800, 437. 
Orihuela. 320, 598. 
Orleans (Aurelianum), 111, 464. 

kingdom, 148. 

county, 285, 388. 

bishopric, 391. 
Orleanais, 306, 464, 479, 491, 494. 
Orontes. river, 346. 
Ormijah, 209. 
Orta,'bishopric in the Patrimony, 616. 

lake in Lombardy, 152. 
Ort-geard (Urtegaard), orchard among the 

Anglo Saxons, 290. 
Orthez, castle, 602. 
Ortygia island, 58. 
Orvieto, bishopric, 616. 
Osma, 255, 590. 
Osimo, bishopric, 616. 
Osman, province, 628. 
Osnabriick, bishopric, 249, 401. 
Osona, barony, 597. 
Osrhoene, 18. 

Ostalrich, border castle, 597. 
Ostend, 408, 496. 
Ostgothland, 301. 
Ostia, on the Tiber, 422. 

bishopric, 616. 
Ostmark, in Sa.'iony, 249. 
Ostphalia, 398, 

Ostrichi, Eastern border (Austria), 179. 
Osuna, county, 588. 
Othrys, mount, 373. 
Otford, battle of, in Kent, 291. 
Otrar, 385, 639. 
Otranto, 269, 607, 635. 
Otterburn, battle oij 434. 
Oural, mount, 75. 
Ostrasia. See Austrasia. 
Otten-Sund (Sound of Otho), 222. 
Ottoman Empire, 627-634. 
Ouche, river, 238, 468. 
Ourem, 574. 

Ourique (Orik), 575, 581. 
Oviedo (Gothia), kingdom, 217, 255. 

bishopric, 593. 
Oye, castle and borough, 432, 474. 
Oxnaford (Oxford), 221. 
Oxholm, convent, 294. 
Oxus (Djihun), river, 212, 326. 



Paderborn (Padarabrunna), 174, 249. 

bishopric, 401. 
Padua (Patavium), city, 52, 311, 405, 411. 
607. 

dnchy, 152. 
Padul, on Mount Alpnj arras, 604. 
Pagasetic Gulf, 373. 
Pago, island, 323. 

Palatium Beata3 Maria?, monastery of, 391. 
Palazzo Vecchio, in Florence, 416. 
Pale, English territoiy in Ireland, 283, 429. 
Psetovium (Pettau), 47. 
Psstum (Capaccio), 57. 
Palffistina, 11, 204, 385, 345, 348, 640. 
Palanka, suburb of Belgrade, 566. 
Palatinate of the Rhine, 395, 513, 520. 
Palavicini, principality of the, 611, 
Palencia, 590. 
Palermo, 259, 322, 599. 

archiepiscopacy, 617. 
Palestrina, 608, 616. 
Palizzi, 599. 

Pallars (Pallas), county, 257, 479, 594. 
Pallastra, 610. 

Palma (Mayorca), 66, 598, 600. 
Palos, 591. 

Palus Moeotis (Gulf of Azof), 90. 
Pamphylia, 19, 327. 
Pammakaristos, cathedral of the, T. 
Pamplona (Pampiluna), 184. 
kingdom, 257. 
bishopric, 602. 
Panaghia Chriso Kephalos, church of, 374. 
PangkiEon, mount, 269. 
Panico, county, 410. 
Panion, castle, 632. 
Pannonia, 47, 149. 
Pantalaria, island, 599. 
Pantokrator, church of the, 7. 
Paphos, 267. 

Paphlagonia, 2-, 327, 351, 370. 
Papia. See Pavia. 
Pappua, mountain in Numidia, 140. 
Paraclete, monastery near Troyes, 392. 
Parchim, lordship, 377. 
Pardiac, county, 241. 
Paradisino, convent, 420. 
Parastonium, 17. 
Paratrecho, castle in Naxos, 361. 
Parga, 607. 
Paris (Parisii), 70, 110. 

kingdom, 115. 

capital, 181, 235, 388, 404, 484, 487, 509. 

(Paris), county, 235, 488. 
bishopric, 391. 
Parium, 268. 
Parma, city, 311, 405, 411, 413, 414, 609. 

duchy, 152. 
Parnassos, city in Cappadocia, 266. 
Parecchia, on Pares, 361. 
Pares, island, 361. 
Parthenay, county, 494. 
Parthenopolis, 265. 



Partikopolis, 269. 

Paryades, mount, 626. 

Passayer, valley, 525. 

Passava, baron V, .357, 358. 

Passau, bishoi/ric, 71, 250, 401. 

Patara, 267. 

Patavium. See Padua. 

Patay, near Orleans, 479. 

Paterna, on Mount Etna, 222. 

Patmos, i.sland, 22, 268. 

Patna, in Hindoostan, 639. 

Patraj (Patrasso), 196, 269, 856, 607, 621, 625. 

barony, 357, 621. 
Patrachik (Ncae Patrse), castle, 855. 
Patmos, island, 22. 
Patrimonium Sancti Petri, 185, 252, 811, 

422, 613, 616. 
Patti, 599. 

Pau (Palum), capital of Beam, 241. 
Pavia, 130, 152, 185, 311, 323, 405, 413, 609. 
Pays-de-Vaud, 246, 413, 551. 
Pecs, in Hungary, 555. 
Peipus, lake, 305, 377. 
Peking, capital, 636. 
Pelissa (Balaton), lake, 47. 
Pella (Macedonia), 37. 
Peloponnesus. See Morea. 
Pelusium, 16. 
Pefta del Cid, castle, 320. 
Pennine Alps, 69, 389. 
Pentapolis of Bomagna, 153, 185. 
Penthievre, county, 470, 492, 505. 
Peparethos, island, 269. 
Pera, at Constantinople, 7, 325, 351, 610, 622. 
Perche, county, 398, 490. 
Pere-la-Chaise, cemetery, 392. 
Pergamus, 22, ?68, 629. 
Perge, 267. 

Pereslawl, principality, 458. 
Perejaslawl, 226, 302, 451. 
Perigord (Petrogoricum), 148, 240, 393, 473. 
Perigueux, bishopric of, 391. 
Perlepi (Prilapon), in Macedonia, 358. 
Permia, 226, 442, 460. 
Peronne-la-Pucelle, fortress, 478. 
Perpignan, 242. 
Persia, 96, 211, 329, 637. 
Perth, 288, 436. 

Perugia (Perusia), duchy, 185, 252, 405, 422. 
lake, 612, 61.3. 
bishopric, 616. 
Pesaro, 153. 

bishopric, 616. 
Pescara (Aternum), fortress, 615. 

river, 186. 
Pessinus (Bo.san), 27, 264. 
Pesth, comitat, 557, 562. 
Petra, 11, 342. 

Petrogoricus Pagus (Perigord), 148. 
Petronion, fortress, 629. 
Petrula, fortress, 624. 
Pettau (Psetovium), 47. 
Peucini, 90. 
Pfalz-am-Ehein, 520. 
Pfyrt, county, 542. 
Phanagoris (Phanagoria), 109^ 
Pharsalus (Fersala), 269. 
Pharus, 16. 
Phasis, river, 374. 

Philadelphia (Asia Minor), 264, 029. 
Phileremos, mount and convent on Ehodes. 

623. 
Philippopolis, 30, 186, 853, 632. 
Philippi, 269. 
Philokrene, battle of, 628. 
Philomelion (Akshehr), in Pisidia, 327. 
Phoc«a, 622. 
Phocis, province, 373. 
Phoenicia, 11. 
Phrygia, 20, 327, 370. 
Phthiotis, province of Thessalia, 373. 
Piazza del Campo, in Siena, 418. 
Piacenza, 405, 411, 609. 
Pianosa (Planusa), island, 417, 612. 
Picardy, 232, 464, 484. 
Picenum Annonarium, 55. 
Piclavis (Poitiers), 112, 147. 
Piedmont, principality, 246, 413. 
Pierregort. See Perigord. 
Pierreguys (Perigueux), 240, 473. 
Pietra-Santa, fortress, 612. 
Pilis, comitat, 557. 
Pilten, in Courland, 382, 454. 
Pinhel, castle, 580. 
Piombino, 417. 
Pisa, maritime republic, 252, 32-3, 612. 

archbishopric, 617. 
Pisans, castle of the, 338. 
Pisidia, 19, 629. 
Pistqja, 405, 415, 420. 
Pisuerga (Pistorica), river, 255, 588. 
Piteaa, city. 441. 

Placentia, Piacenza, duchy of, 152,405,411. 
Placita (diets) of Koncaglia, 252. 
Plain -du-Temple, castle, 342. 
Plain of Merles, battlefield of Kossowa 

566. 
Plasencia, 590. 

bishopric, 593. 
Platten-See (Balaton), lake, 47. 
Plessis-les-Toui-s, castle, 508. 
Pliva, river, 568. 
Plock, principality, 449. 
Ploermel, in Brittany, 470. 
Plotzk, 250. 

bishopric, 449. 
Po (Padus), river, 53, 152, 252, 406, 411. 
Podestd (military governor), 406. 
Podlachia, province, 449. 
Podlcsia, province, 452. 
Podolia, province, 451. 
Podrima, province, 565, 566. 
Pogesania, district, 880. 
Poggibonzi, castle, 420. 
Poglizza, in Dalmatia, 568. 
Poitiers, county, 240, 325, 472. 

bishopric, 391, 510. 
Poitou, 887, 393, 472, 480. 
Poland, duchy, 250. 



GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX. 



229 



Poland, kingdom, 2S1, 302, 312, 375, 449. 
I'olemoniiim, 28. 
I'ollentia (Pollenza), 51 
rolonia Magna, 449. 
Minor, 460. 
Polotzlv, principality, 226, 802, 384. 
Polycastro, in Calaljria, 322. 
Pi>l>kandros, island, 8iil. 
I'ombal. castle, 579. 
Ponierania, duchy, 250, 296, 312, 897, 522, 

58.J. ^ 
Poinerellen, district, 379, 449. 
Poinesania, district, 3S0. 

bishopric, 449. 
Pondico, in Crimea, 610. 
Pont-de-l'Arche, city, 490. 
P<int-Audemer, 490. 
Ponte-Corvo, 613. 
Pontei'raet Castle, 4.34. 
Ponthiou, county, 282, 464, 469, 474, 496. 
Pontica Difficesis, 23. 
Pontine Swamps, 422. 
Pontoise, county, 235. 
Pontremoli, border fortress, 413. 
Pontus, 23, 327, S51. 
Ponza, island, 615. 
P<»rches, 577. 

Poros (Kalauria), island, 359, 635. 
Poi-phyra, palace in Constantinople, 7. 
Porta del Popolo, in Eome, 139. 
Porta; Amantides, 205. 
CaspiiE, 208. 
Ciliciaj, 205. 
Maritima;, 205. 
Portien, county. 489. 
Portillo, in Castile, 590. 
Porto. See Oporto. 
Porto Pisano, 417. 

Porto di Mandraccbio, at Rhodes, 623. 
Porto di San Ippolito, bishopric, 615. 
Porto Santo, island, 57-3, 582. 
Portugal, kingdom of. 316, 573, 580, 581, 605. 
Portu-Kale (Portugal), county of, 316. 
Portus Liburni (Leghorn), 420. 
Poi-tus Magonis (Po'i-t Mahon), 66, 589. 
Posada (boroughs), in Poland, 313. 
Poscbega (Posega), comitat, 260, 559. 
Posen, province, 250, 312, 449. 
Posidonian Gulf, 57. 
Poson)', comitat, 557. 
Potenza, county, 822. 
Potsdam on the Havel, 517. 
I'oiiilly, castle, 289. 
Piiviatij Ziemie (Polish districts), 313. 
Powys, principality, 432. 
PriL'fectures of the Eoman Empire, 45. 
Prievalltana, 35. 
Praga, in Poland, 449. 
Prague (Praga), capital, in Bohemia, 250, 
514. 
bishopric, 401. 
archbishopric, 548. 
Prastos, in the Morea, 196. 
Pravadi (Marcianopolis), 81. 
Prebalis, in Upper Albania, 35, 624. 
Prenzlau, 517. 
Prcssburg (Carmuntum), 47. 

comitat, 557. 
Prevesa (Nicopolis), 88, 607. 
Priucipato, province, 822. 
Prinitz;!, battle-field of, 621. 
Pripjet (Prypec), river, 805, 452. 
Procupia. See Kralowa, 566. 
Prokounesos, island, 268, 352, 629. 
Proniontorium Sacrum, 582. 
Provence (Provincia), county, on the 

Khone, 148, 158, 308, 486, 502. 
Provinces of' the Roman Empire, 4. 
Provinces Ecclesiastical of 
Aragon, 600. 
Castile, 593. 
Denmark, 222, 293. 
England, 433. 
France, 390. 510. 
Germany, 401, 543. 
Greece, 351, 356. 
Hungary, 571. 
Italy, 6L6. 
Navarra, 602. 

Norway, 439, See Addenda. 
Poland and Russia, 449. See Ad- 
denda. 
Portugal, 585. 
Prussia,- 383. 
Scotland, 2S5, 435. 
Sweden, 439. See Addenda. 
Syria, 348. 
Provins, in- Champagne, 489. 
Prusa (Brusa), in Bithynia, 28, 370, 628. 
Prussia, conquest of, 805, 375, 379. 

state of the Teutonic Order, 880. 
duchy, 453, 517. 
Prutb (Hierasus), river, 90, 570. 
Przemsysl, principality, 563. 
Przybislaw, siege of, 515. 
Psara, island, 371, 610, 622. 
Pskow (Pleskow), principality, 802, 452. 
I'tolomais (Acre), 842. 
I'uerta de Val Carlos, 184. 
Puslia (.\pulia) province, 57. 

duchy, 281. 
Pugliano, 607. 
Puiset, seigniory of, 306. 
Pultusk, city, 449, 
Puntido, convent, 409. 
Pursub, river, 628. 
Puster-Valley, in Tyrol, 525. 
Puteoli (Pozzuoli), 153. 
Puy, bishopric, 391. 
I'uy de Dome, mountain, 239, 468. 
Pylai, in Pontus, 374. 
Pyramus, river, 14, 349. 
Pyxites, in Asia Minor, 374. 



Quainland (Lapmark), 80, 225. 
Querci (Caourcin), 243, 393, 473. 



Quesnoy, 497. 
Quedlingburg, 247, 249. 
(Juierzy"'(Gartslacus) on the Oise, 181. 
Quimper, bishopric, 390. 
Quinque Ecclesia;(riinf kirchen), bishopric, 
571. 



R. 



Eaab (laurium), comitat, 557. 

bishopric, 571. 
Eacca (Callinlcon) on the Euphrates, 279. 
Eadcliff, near London, 434. 
Eagusa, imperial city, 139. 

republic, 369, 563. 

archiepiscopacy, 571. 
Eakos, i)Iain in Hungary, 253. 
Bama (I3osnia) kingdom, 563, 565. 
duchy, 565. 
river, 565. 
Eambonillet, 509. 
Eamhormuz, in Persia, 211. 
Eamla, in Palestine, 308, 
Eandazzo, margraviate, 599. 
Eanga, or southland of Iceland, 299. 
Eanders, city in Jutland, 378. 
Eapperswyl, on the lake of Ziirich, 553. 
Earon, county, 551. 

Eas-el-Abiad (White Cape), near Tyre, 344. 
Rascia (Servia), province, 324, 368. 

kingdom, 566, 
Eashid (Eosetta), 366. 
Eassa (Novi Bazar), capital, 368. 
Eastadt, capital, 538. 
Eatenna (Eegnitz), river, 250. 
Ratiaria (Widdin), 34. 
Eatisbon, See Eegensburg. 
Eattenburg, castle, 527, 
Eatzeburg, county, 877. 

bishopric, 401. 
Eaumarike, district in Norway, 190, 223. 
Eavendel, castle, 346, 
Eavenna. 42, 130, 311, 405, 412, 607. 
exarchate of, 153, 185. 
archiepiscopacy, 617, 
Eavensberg, county, 582. 
Eawa, province, 449. 
Eay (Rhag.X'), 210, 277. 
Eazez, seigniory, 318, 388. 
Re, island', 474, 
Eeadinga, monastery, 433. 
Eecanati, bishopric, 616. 
Eechnitz (Eegnitz), river, 163, 172, 250. 
Eedinba, castle, 579, 
Eedones, See Rennes. 
Red Russia (Halicz), 450. 
Eegensburg (Ratisbona), 177, 250, 402, 544. 

bishopric, 401. 
Reggio in Emilia, 152, 311, 412. 
Eeggio on the Faro, 270, 322. 
Eeglpodanos, in Cappadocia, 266. 
Eegium, See Eatisbon. 

See Eeggio. 
Reikjaholt, castle of Snorro, 299. 
Reikj.wik, capital in Iceland, 299. 
Reit-Gothland (Jutland), 85, 190. 
Eemi (Eheims), 71, 110. 
Remlremont, 529. 
Eems, river, 310. 
Eendsburg (Eeinboldsburg), fortress, 294, 

377. 
Renfrew, county, 288. 
Eennes (Eedones), 111, 115, 157, 237, 470. 

bishopric of, 890. 
Eepoi, on the Cimmerian Bosphorus, 109 \ 
Resan. See Rjajsan. 
Ressawa, voivodat, 566. 
Eestello. See Belem. 
R6thel, county, 234, 467, 489, 496. 
Eettimo, city in Crete, 359. 
Reuss, county, 542. 

river, in Switzerland, 552. 
Reutlingen, 540, 544. 
Keval, city and bishopric, 370, 380, 403. 
Kha (Volga), river, 87. 
Eheetia, Roman province, 50. 

Ostrogothica, 129. 
Rhiitian Alps, 551. 
Ehausium (Eagusa), 168. 
Eheims, county, 284. 

archbishopric, 388, 468. 
Rheiu-Pfalz, 520. 
Rheno, river, 410. 
Rbizaion, city in Asia Minor, 374. 
Rhodes, island, 22, 267, 362, 628. 
Rhodez (Rutena). 117. 

bishopric, 891, 510. 
Ehodian Colossus, 267. 
Ehodope, province, 30, 269. 
Ehodostos, 853, 859, 682. 
Rhyudacus (Edrenos), river, 268, 
Ribagorza, county, 257, 318, 597. 
Riba da Coa, district, 580. 
Rlbe (Ripa), in Jutland, 222, 294. 
Rjaisan (Resan), on the Oka, 385. 

principality, 460. 
Eieux, bishopric, 510. 
Riesen-G'ebirge (Giants' Mountains), 78. 
Eietberg, county, 542. 
Eieti, bishopric, 615. 
Riez, bishopric, 392. 
Rif (Middle Egypt), 366. 
Riga, 305, 382, 403. 

archbishopric, 880. 
Rigaic Gulf, 805, 

Rigo-mazew (field of Merles), 566. 
Rimini, 153, 405, 413, 
Riminik, 570. 
Rlmol, 223. 

Ringsted, in Sealand, 190, 293. 
Eingus (Avaric camp at Buda-Pesth), 149, 

179. 
Rioja, province of, 25T, 318, 588. 
Risga (Rechnitz), river, 163, 
Riva Alta (Rialto), lagoon of Venice, 272. 
Roannais, county, 500. 
Roboyston, near Glasgow, 436. 
Eoehcfort, county, 497. 



Rochelle, port and fortress, 472. 

Rodels (Rhodez), 243, 473. 

Roeskllde (sfirings of King Roe), capital of 

Denmark, 222. 
Roteln, lordsliip, 538, 
Rogaland, district in Norway, 190, 221. 
Rogatschew, principality, 452. 
Romagna (Romandiola), province, 811, 

422, 613, 
Romano-Germanic empire, 218, 247-2.52, 

281, 309-811, 875, 394-422, 425, 426, 428, 

511-547. 
Romania (Constantinople), Latin empire of, 

336, 351, 
Eomanopolis, 266. 

Eome, city, 42, 130, 251, 252, 311, 405, 422, 
613. 
duchy, 153, 185. 
patriarchate, 615. 
Romove, near Konigsberg, 805. 
Roneaglia, plain of, 252, 411. 
Eoncevalles (Koncevaux), 184. 
Eonda (Munda), 604. 
Rosas, promontory, 597. 
Rosanna, city in Lithuanlti, 452. 
Eosbecque, battle of, 467. 
Eoscida Vallis. See Eoncevalles, 184. 
Eosetta, 866. 
Rosiate, 408. 

Rosienna, town in Samogitia, 452. 
Roslagen, in Sweden, 226, See Addenda. 
Roslyn, castle, 486. 
Ross (Rossensis) diocese, 287. 
Rossano, 270. 
Rostock, 877, 403, 534. 
Eostow, principality, 458. 
Roth well, 544, 551. 
Rotala, province, 377. 
Rotterdam, 403, 497. 
Eoucy, lordship, 234, 489. 
Eouen (Eotomagus), 70, 111, 115, 236,484, 

490. 
Eoussillon, county, 243, 481, 594. 
Eouvray-Saint-Denis, battle, 479. 
Roveredo, 607. 

Rovergue, county, 243, 306, 473. 
Royal domains in France, 231, 888, 463, 
Roye, city, 496. 
Roxburgh, castle, 288. 
Eozgony. battle-field of, 562, 
Rshew, principality in Russia, 458. 
Rudah, in the Delta, 640. 
Rudbar, castle of the Assassins, 210, 279, 

864. 
Riidesheim, 537, 
Rugen. Island, 107, 21.3, 378, 444, 585. 

principality, 377. 
Riipelmonde, 497. 
Riitli, on the lake of Lucerne, 552. 
Rugia, castle, 346. 
Rum (Iconium), sultanate, 208, 281, 327, 

627, 630. 
Eum-Ili (Romania), 632. 
Rumkala, castle, 347. 
Runimede, near Staines, 434. 
Rusca, district on the lake of Como, 609. 
Russanum (Rossano), in Calabria, 322. 
Russia, grand duchy of. 218, 281, 375. 
Rutenicus Pagus, district, 147. 
Rutena (Ehodez), 117. 



Sa'alc, river, 155. 

Sa'anah, in Yemen, 203. 

Sa'ane, river, 550. 

Saarbruck, county, 537, 542. 

Saats, battle of, 515. 

Sabaria (Sarvar), capital of Pannonia, 47. 

Sabaudia. See Savoy. 

Sabbatus, river in Apulia, 186, 

Sabbioncello, peninsula, 564, 

Sabina, Papal territory, 185, 422, 61.3. 

Sabrianum jEstuarium (the Bristol Chan- 
nel), 73. 

Sabrina (Severn), river, 73. 

Sabrata (Sabart), on the coast of Berbery, 
61. 

Sacred Snakes, in Lithuania, 384. 

Safax, in Aft-ica, 822. 

Safed, castle in Galilee, 844. 

Sagres, 582. 

Saint Albans (Verulamium), 73, 433, 434. 

Saint Andrews, 2SS. 

college, 455. 

Saint Asaph, bishopric, 483. 

Saint Bernbard (Lesser), mountain pass, 
413. 

Saint Bertrand, city, 241. 

bishopric, 391. 

Saint Brieue, bishopric, 390. 

Saint Clair-sur-Epte, treaty of, 286. 

Saint Cosmas, convent near Constantinople, 
351, 

Saint Cuthbert, monastery, 433. 

Saint Denis, abbey of, 181, 484. 

Saiutes (Santones), 115, 148. 
bishopric, 890. 

Saint Eugenius, church, 374. 

Saint Gall, bishopric, 550, 

Saint George, See Giurgewo, 

Saint George, church, at Lydda, 840. 

Saint George, in Pesth, 502. 

Saint Gildasius in Nemore, monastery, 390. 

Saint Giles, vilhage near London, 484. 

Saint Gilles, county, 248. 

Saint Gondon-sur-Loire, abbey, 238. 

Saint Jacobs on the Birs, 558. 

Saint Jacques de Montford, monastery, 390. 

Saint James, chnrch of the Templars, in 
Andravida, 358. 

Saint Jean d'Acre, in Palestine, 842. 

Saint Jean de Maurienne, bishopric, 892. 

Saint Julian, hermitage, 317. 

Saint Lizier, bishopric, 891. 

Saint Malo, in Bretagne. 403, 470. 
bishopric, 390. 

Saint Marcel, monastery, neai' Chalons-sur- 
Saone, 392. 



Saint Mark (Venice), republic of, 314, 607. 
Saint Martin-le-Grand, cathedral, 290, 
Saint Mary, at Aix-la-Chapelle. 171, 
Saint Mary, church on Mount Moriali, 889 
Saint Maurice, 244. 
Saint Medericus, cathedral, 181, 
Saint Omer, castle, at Thebes, 355. 
Saintonge, county, 241, 472, 
Saint Paul's, London, 104, 291, 
Saint Paul-de-Leon, bishopric, 390. 
Siiint Pepoul, bishopric, 510, 
Saint Peter's Abbey, London, 484. 
Saint Peter-in-Vaticano, 185, 
Saint Petersburg (Landscrona), on the Ne- 
va, 442, 
Saint Pol, county in Arlois, 488, 505, 508. 
Saint Pons, bishopric, 510. 
Saint Quentin, 233, 307, 484. 
SamtRiquier, city of, 306. 

abbey, 232, 390. 
Saint Stephen, in Andravida, 358. 

cathedral in Vienna, 524. 
Saint Sulpice, in Paris, 110. 
Saisette (Sidon), barony, 344. 
Sala, province, 565. 
Salado, river, 591. 
Salahun, 590. 
Salamanca, 588, 590, 592. 
Salamis (Coulouri), island, 359. 

city in Cyprus, 14. 
Salemi, 599. 
Salerno, principality, 168, 251, 321. 

gulf of, 270. 

Arab medical college, 424. 

archiepiscoiiacy, 617. 
Salisburgum (Salzburg). 177. 
Salin, lordship, 496. 
Salm, county, 497, 542. 
Salmydessos (Midia), 633. 
Sal5. castle, 608. 
Salona, 46, 

(Soula), county. 355, 620. 
Saloniki (Thessalonica), 37, 269. 

kingdom, 336, 625. 
Salto, river near Scurcola, 424. 
Saluzzo, county, 405. 
Salvatierra, in"Castile, 591. 
in Aragon, 597. 
Salzburg, archbishopric,.250, 401. 
Salzwedel, 403, 517. 
Samarkand, 212, 385, 637. 
Sambor, city, 451. 
Samland, district, 880, 453. 
Samnium, province, 56. 
Samara (Somnie), river, SO, 
Samogitia (Szamaitia), 380, 452. 

bishopric, 449. See Addenda. 
Samos, island, 22, -359, 870, 871, 610, 622. 
Samosata, on the Euphrates, 347, 631, 
Samothrace (Samothraki), island, 269, 351, 

871. 610, 622. 
San Angelo, on Mount Gargano, 322. 

(Moles Hadriani), castle of 
Eome, 252. 
San Bonifazio, in Corsica, 328, 610. 

in Crete, 859. 
Sancen-e, county, 888, 491, 501. 
Sancti Albani cathedral in Odense, 293, 
Sancti Galli Monasterium (St, Gallen), 176. 
Sancti Laurentii cathedral of Lund 293. 
Sancti Lucii cathedral in Eoeskilde, 293. 
Sancti Petri de Casis Monasterium, 391. 
Sandomirz, 312, 450. 
Sandukli, in Phrygia, 629. 
San Estevan, 590, 
Sangarius, river, 264, 327, 352, 627. 
Sangatte, seigniory, 474. 
San Germano, city, 322. 
San Giorgio, 610. 
Sanguesa, 602, 
San Loretto, 613, 
San Marino, republic, 422, 564. 
San Miniato, 405. 
Sanniza, river in Bosnia, 565. 
San Prieto, promontory, 255. 
San Eomualdo, convent, 420, 
San Saba (Herzegowina). duchy, 565. 
Santa Clara, convent in Portugal, 580. 

in Sweden, 439. 
Santa-Fe, 604. 

Santa Genoveva, cathedral, 181. 
Santa Irene, church in Constantinople, 7. 
Santa Maria, nunnery in Sweden, 439. 
Santa Maria-della-Vittoria, at Scurcola, 424. 
Santa Maria-de-Faro, in Algarve, 575. 
Santa Maria-del-Fiore, cathedral, 416. 
Santa Maria Latina, convent at Jerusalem, 

339. 
Santa Maria, port on Pares, 861. 
Santa Maura (Leucadia), island, 300, 621. 
Santarem, 577. 

Santa Sophia, cathedriil in Constantinople, 
7, 853, 683. 
cathedral in Andravida, 858. 
cathedial in Trebizond, 874. 
Santiago de Compostela, 255, 817, 598. 
Santerre, district in Picardy, 496. 
Santones (Saintes), 115. 
Santorini (Thera), island, 361. 
Sanur, castle in Palestine, 843. 
Saone (Arar), river, 70, 119. 
Saoserje, principalitj-, 458. 
Saragostha (Zaragoza), 216. 
Sarai (Astrakan), chanate of, 385, 456. 
Sarajevo, 565. 
Sardes. 21, 264, 
Sardica (Triaditza), 34, 136, 
Sardinia, 58, 139, 158, 323, 895, 417, 599. 
Sarkel, fortress on the Don, 193. 
Sarmatia, 76, 87. 

Sarnitza, convent in Transylvania, 83. 
Saros, comitat, 558. 
Sai-sina, 422. 

Sarum (Salisbury), bishopric, 433. 
Sarvana, river, 410. 
Sarwerd. county in Germany, 542, 
Sassari, episcopacy in Sardinia, 617. 
Sattel, mount at Morgarten, 552. 
Sauchec, battle of, 436, 



230 



GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX. 



Saueutbal (Mount Suntel), 174. 

Samnane, castle, 613. 

Sausenburg, 53S. 

Save (Savus), river, 84, 47, 324, 526, 559. 

Savclli, county, 422. 

Savia, Alpine valley, 551. 

province in Pannonia, 47. 
Savigliano, 611. 
Savolax, 442. 

Savona, niarquisate of, 252, 610. 
Savoy, county of, 400, 413, 468, 54S, 551. 

ducliy, 413, 606, 611. 
Savoy Honse, palace in London, 413, 434. 
Savwolstclii, province, 459. 
Sayn, county, 542. 
Sax, county in the Alps, 551. 
Saxa-Rubra, battlefield near Rome, 55. 
Saxe-Wittenberg, electorate, 513, 518. 
Saxe-Lauenburg, ducliy, 522, 533. 
Saxonia (Saxony), independent state, 105, 
165, 173. 
duchj', 249. 
Saxon Colonies in Hungary, 561. 
Saxon Country in Transylvania, 559. 
Saxony, electorate, 89S. 
Saxon Noslerland, district, 559. 
Scalabis. See Santarem. 
Scandelion, lordsliip, 344. 
Scanderoon (Alexandria), 366. 

(Alexandrette), 346u 
Scaldis (Scheldt), river, 80, 181. 
Scandia (Skaane), 85. 
Scandinavia (Scanzi.a), 85, 144, 190. 
Sc.avdus (Schar-Dagh), mountain, 35, 324, 

566. 
Scharding, 525. 
Schaf hausen, canton, 550. 
Schalauen, district, 380. 
Schardagh, 566. 
Schauenburg, county, 542. 
Schauenburg-Pinneberg, county, 444. 
Scbaus, province in Morocco, 645. 
Schemnitz, mining district, 560. 
Scliehr-Sebz, in Bukhara, 637. 
Scliidingi (Scheidungen), 120. 
Schiraz, in Persia, 277, 637. 
Seliitnitoza, river, 566. 
Sclileswig (Sliaswyk). See Slesvig. 
Schley, river, 190,378. 
SrhiH'i-ljurg, 519. 
K.-li.iln'k (Moiis Kegalis), 342. 
.Si/ii,/,( ((piarters) of Rome, 252. 
Schup.a, voivodat, 566. 
Sclnvartz-Wald (Black forest), 78. 
Sclnvarzenberg, county, 542. 
Schweidnitz, duchy, 455. 
Schwerin, county and castle of, 377, 584. 

bishopric, 401. 
Schwyz, canton, 400, 549. 
Sciacca, 599. 

Scilly, islands, 221. 

Scinde, on the Indus, 561. 

Srii-.s (shires or counties In England), 290. 

Sclavonia, province, 656. 

Sclavochori (Amyclae) in Laconia, 358. 

Scone, abbey, 220, 436. 

Scoedises (liop-Dagh), mountains of Ar- 
menia, 266. 

Bcodra (Scutari), 35, 607, 624, 635. 
lake of, 324, 

Scotland, kingdom of, 218, 281, 274, 375, 
428, 4:32, 435. 

Scotland-House, palace in London, 434. 

Scopelos, island, 22. 

Scrivia, river, 412. 

Scupi (Uskup), 35. 

Scurcola, battlefield of, 424 

Scutari (Chalcedon), 628. 

Scutari. See Scodra. 

Scyllacium (Squillace), 130, 270. 

Soythia, 31,75, 88. 

Scythopolis, 11, 343. 

Scyros, island, 22, 352. 
bishopric, 355. 

Sea of the Waroeger, 227. See Addenda. 

Seafort, border castle, 288. 

Sealand, in Denmark, 222, 292, 378. 

Sebaste (Sebasteia, Szivas), 25, 266, 631. 

Sebenico, city of, 323, 563, 607. 
island, 260. 

Sebtah (Ceuta), 213. 

Seckingen, nunnery, 549. 

Sediclmessa, province, 646. 

Sed'iestan, 212, 275, 637. 

Seeburg, castle, 449. 

Seez (Sagiuni), viscounty, 388. 
bishopric, 890. 

Segeberg, castle, 377. 

Segorbe, duchy in Valencia, 598. 

Segni, bishopric, 616. 

Segovia, 588, 590. 59.3. 

Segusio (Suza), 51. 

Seldjukid principalities in Syria, 380. 

Seleph (Calycadnus), river in Cilicia, 349. 

Seleucia, on the Orontes, 346. 

Seleucia, on the Tigris, 96, 207. 

Seleucia Trachcea, in Cilicia, 14, 266. 

Selge, 267. 

Belters, 537. 

Selz, 588. 

Semgallia, district, 880. 

Semlin, fortress, 814, 559, 562. 
district, 380. 

Seinpach, 512, 552. 

Sena, county, 252. Sec Siena. 

SenecJuiusees of Languedoc, 493. 

Serres, 626. 

Senerak, castle, 337, 347. 

Senez, bishopric, 392. 

Senfeya, in Khovvaresm, 276. 
Senlac, near Hastings, 291. 
Senlis, 484. 

bishopric, 390. 
Scnonia (Lugdunensis quarta), 70. 
Sens (Senones), 70. 

county of, 234, 30G. 
Sepphoris (Sefurieh), spring of, 343. 
Seprio, district, 407. 
Septimania, province, 123, 157, 883. 



Septum (Septa, Ceuta), 123, 214. 
Sepulchre of Conradino, at Naples, 424. 
of Baldwin of Boulogne, 340. 
of Godfrey of BouilhTn, 340. 
of Ignez de Castro, 581. 
of John Hunyad, 562. 
ofNour-ed-Din, 830. 
of Dom Pedro of Portugal, 581. 
Sepulveda, 590. 

Serapis, temple at Alexandria, 16. 
Serbia (Serblia). See Servia. 
Sereth, river, 570. 
Serf Eyaleti (Servia), 567. 
Serpa, castle, 577, 581. 
Serra da Cintra, 581. 
Serra Estrelha, in Portugal, 581. 
Scrravalle, castle, 420. 
Serrai (Serres), 269, 620. 
Servia, kingdom, 196, 324, 368, 368, 563, 
565. 
Turkish ejalet, 635. 
Sesia, river, 414. 

Sestieri (wards) of Florence, 416. 
Setuval (Saint Ubes), in Portugal, 576, 581. 
Seven Oaks, in Kent, 434. 
Seven Towers, in Constantinople, 7, 683. 
Severia, principality, 305, 884, 452. 
Severn (Sabrina), river, 73. 
Sevilla, 65, 124, 258, 587, 588, 590, 591, 593. 
Sevo mountains, 297. 
Sfakes in Africa, 64.3. 
Sfakia, city and district in Crete, 859. 
Sfetigrod (Holy City), in Albania, 624. 
Shabactun, in Mesopotamia, 347. 
Shadeir (Shadiz), castle of the Assassins, 

364. 
Shaftesbury, 291. 
Shaizar, castle of, 346. 
Sharvan (Shirvvan), 208. 
Sherish (Xeres), 215. 
Sheristan, 277. 

Sherston (Sceorstane), battle of, 291. 
Shetl.and, islands, 300, 437. 
Shoreditoh, London, 434. 
Shiz (Phraata), 209. 
Shrewsbury, battle of, 484. 
Shrine of Saint Olaf, 223. 
Sliupa, province, 368. 
Shush, in Persia, 211. 
Siberia, 89, 460, 638. 
Sicily, 58, 131, 139, 194, 281. 
emirate of, 259. 
grand county of, 822. 
kingdom of, 395, 599. 
Siculiana, county, 599. 
Side (Sidi-Soher), in Pamphylia, 267, 629. 

plain in Pontus, 874. 
Sidi-Gbazi, 20. 

Siebenburgen (Transylvania), 556. 
Siena, 405, 415, 418, 612. 

archiepiscop.al see, 617. 
Sierad (Sieradz), province in Poland, 312, 

449. 
Sierra de Antequera, 604. 
Sierra Morena, in Spain, 31 6, 588, 592. 
Sierra Nevada, 604. 
Sierra de Segura, 320. 
Sigiburg, in Saxony, 174, 
Sigmaringen, 541. 

Sigtuna, temple of Odin, 106. 144, 190. 
Franciscan convent, 439. 

Siguenza, 588, 590, 593. 

Siliun, river. See laxartes. 

Sikyon, 269. 

Silaro, river, 410. 

Silbersted, 222. 

Silesia, duchy of, 250, 312, 455, 516. 

Silistria, 569, 635. 

Silivri. near Constantinople, 625. 

Silva Bnlgarorum, 324. 

Silves, 575, 577, 582. 

Simancas, 590. 

Siinniern, 520. 

Sinai, mount, 202. 

Sind (Indus), river, 210. 

Singidunum (Belgrade), 34, 314. 

Sinigaglia, 158. 

bishopric, 616. 

Sinis, in the Portuguese Estremadura, 581. 

Sinope (Sinoup), 264, 374, 680. 

Sinsheim, battle of, 588. 

Sinus (?((MiC«s(Gulf of Lions not Lyons), 
155, 157. 

Sinus imperii, 81. 

SinusVenedicus (Baltic), 91. 

Sion (Sedunum), bishopric, 401. 

S,iulund (Sjielland). See Sealand, 222, 292. 

Siphnos, island of, 361. 

Sirmich (Sirmium), 47, 314. 

Siraf, 211. 

Sis, in Armenia, 849. 

Siscia (Sisseck), 47. 

Sisteron, bishopric of, 892. 

Sisters, twin towers at Antioch, 346. 

Sitefi (Setif ), in Africa, 62. 

Sithiu (Saint Ouier), 181. 

Skaane (Scandia), 85, 190, 222, 293, 378. 

Skaltholt, episcopal see, 299. 

Skanderborg, battle of, 378. 

Skanoer, castle, 545. 

Skara, bishopric, 439. 

Skarphia, 269. 

Skiathos, island, 22, 269, 359. 

Skjelskiur, 293. 

Sk'o-Kloster, nunnery on the Mtelarn, 489. 

Skopelos (Skepila), island, 269, 359. 

Skorta (Gortys), in Arcadia, 35S. 

Skrepari, in Albania, 624. 

Skupoi (Uskup), 85. 

Skutarion, near Adrianople, 30. 

Slask, province of, 312. 

Slava, villaiie in Morea, 196. 

Slavia (Sarmatia), 88, 91, 107, 191, 195, 196. 

Slavia (Sclavonia and Croatia), 149. 

Slavia (Slavinia or Wendland), on the 
Baltic, 295, 309. 

Slavo-Grecian States, 196, 368. 

Slavo-IUyrian Athens, 869. 

Slavnchori (Ainychi'), near Sparta, 196. 



Slesvig (South -Jutland), 82, 222. 
margraviate of, 249, 308. 
duchy ot; 294, 878,444. 
Slonim, citv, 452. 
Slovenzi, 226, 526. 
Slucz, city, 452. 
Sluys, naval combat of, 467. 
Smaaland, 225, 439. 
Smuderowa. See Semendria. 
Smitlifield vineyards, 291. 
Smolensk, city, 107, 226. 

principality, 302, 452. 
Smyrna, 268, 629. 
Snake-tower of King Ella, 190. 
Sneeland (Iceland), 224. 
Snorrolaug (the hot baths of Snorro in Ice- 
land), 299. 
Sobrarbe, principality of, 257, 318. 
Siidermanna Land, 225, 301. 
Soest, 402. 

Sofia (Triaditza), 824, 867, 685. 
Sogdiana (Mawar-al-Nahr),212, 275, 326, 637 
Sogn, district in Norway, 190. 
Sohl, comitat, 557. 
Soissons (Suessiones), city, 71, 307. 
kingdom, 114. 
county, 28.3, 488, 494. 
bishopric, 890. 
Soldaja, 610. 

Soldin, in Brandenburg, 517. 
Soleure. See Solothurn. 
Solms, county, 542. 

Solomon's Temple (Koyal Palace), at Jeru- 
salem, 389. 
Solothurn, canton, 400, 550. 
Somme (Samara), river, 80. 
Somogyvar, comitat, 557. 
Sontius (Isonzo), river, 52, 130. 
Sophene, on the Euphrates, 266. 
Soprony, comitat, 5,57. 
Spra, county of Naples, 322. 
Sora, in Paphlagonia, 265. 
Soria, 588, 590. 
Soroe, abbey, 293. 
Sorgues, river, 613. 
Sorrentum, 153, 270. 
Sotiropolis, in Asia Minor, 374. 
Soula (Salona), county of, 355, 620. 
Souabla (Aleraania), duchy of, 250, 809, 

395, 399. 
Soure, castle, 574, 577, 579. 
Southwark, 291, 484. 
Spalatro (Aspalathus), 40, 314, 323. 

archiepiscopaoy, 571. 
Spanheim, county, 520. 
Spanish Marches, 184. 
Spanish Peninsula, 258, 375. 
Sparta, 40, 858. 

Sperehius (Hellada), river, 873. 
Sperlenga, castle, 423. 
Spessart, forest, 78. 
Spetza (Typarenos), island, 359, 635. 
Spezzia, in Italy, 610. 
Spiragau, 395 

Spires, on the Rhine, 249. 400, 401, 544. 
Spoleto (Spoletum), ducliy, 55, 152, 185. 
252, 311, 422, 613. 
bishopric, 616. 

Spree, river, 295, 517. 

Sporades, islands. 22, 208. 

Squillace (Scyllacium), 180, 270, 322. 

Ssamsat. See Saraosata. 

Ssaru-Chan, province, 628, 629. 

Ssibir (Turan), chanate of, 456, 460, 638. 

Stablon (Etoublons), 148. 

Stade, 398, 403. 

Stargard, 403. 

Staines, 434. 

Stalimene (Stalimno). See Lemuos. 

Stamford-Bridge, battle of, 291. 

Stampalia, island, 359. 

Stanon, fortress, 624. 

Stanz, in Unterwalden, 552. 

Stargard, 449, 534. 

Staraja-Russa, ancient capital, 459. 

Stariwia, voivodat, 566. 

Staziona, district, 407. 

StarosUes (counties), 367. 

Steel-yard, in London, 408. 

Stella, monastery, 391. 

Stellusa fortress, (324. 

Sternberg, 517. 

Sternitza (Triaditza), 324. 

Stettin, 403, 585. 

Steyermark. See Styria. 

Stibor, district, 560. 

Stifter, provinces of Norway, 443. 

Stiklesholm, 299. 

Stiklestad, battle of, 22.3, 296. 

Stillfried, on the Marchfield, 523, 524. 

Stiues. See Athens. 

Stirliua Castle, 288, 436. 

Stobi, 38. 

Stockholm, 225, 403, 440. 

Stormarn, in Holstein, 82, 377. 

Stralsund, 398, 403, 535. 

Strand, London, 4:34. 

Strassburg, 175, 402, 539, 544. 
bishopric, 401, 589. 

Strntegion, in Constantinople, 7. 

Studium Generate of Huug.ary, 556. 

Stuhlweissenburg, 557, 562. 

Strathclyde, 103, 221, 292. 

Strathern, county of, 287 

Strauburg. 527. 

Streets and Bazaars of Jerusalem, 389. 

Strelitz, 534. 

Strengniis, 440. 

bishopric, 439. 

Stribog, steppe in Russia, 304. 

Stuhm, city in Prussia, 458. 

Sture, river in Essex, 291. 

Stuttgard, 399, 528. 

Styria, duchy, 399, 52-2, 525, 526. 

Styreshavne (maritiine districts), 378. 

Sudauen, district, 380. 

Sudetes, mountains, 455. 

Siidermanland, 440. 

Siimeli, comitat, 557. 



Suessiones (Soissons), 71, 110, 181. 
Sueve-Gau, in Saxony, 536. 
Suevian, kingdom, 126, 151. 
Suevicum Mare (Baltic), 75. 
Suffolk, 200. 

Sugarcane, in Syria, 340. 
in Sicily, 259. 
Sugar mills of the Saracens at Jericho, 340 
Suithiod (Sweden), 106. 
Suitowa, in Bosnia, 565. 
Sultan-Oeni, homestead of the Turks, 628. 
Sulzbacb, in Alsace, 520, 621. 
Sund-Gau, landgraviate, 539. 
Sur (Tyre), in Syria, 204. 
Sus, province, 645. 

Susdal (Wladimir), principality, 803, 459. 
Sussex, 104. 
Sutri, bishopric, 016. 
Suza (Segusio), 51. 

marquisate, 262, 413. 
Suzon, river, 468. 
Svendborg, 293. 
Svilei (Cibalis), 47. 
Swealand, 440. 

Sweden (Swea Rike), 85, 106, 144, 190, 218, 
281, 282, 301, 376, 428, 488, 489. 

Switzerland (Burgundia Minor), 809, 548. 

Swieta, river, 884. 

Sydercier (Hebrides! 224, 487. 

Sykena (Pera and Galatii), at Constantino- 
ple, 7. 

Sylena; (Scilly), islands, 221. 

Syme, island, 362. 

Synnada, 20, 264, 629. 

Syracuse, 58, 153, 259, 599. 

archiepiscopaoy, 617. 

Syria, Roman province, 12. 

Syria (Es Sham), Mohammedan province, 
204. 

Syrmia, province, 556. 

Syrmian Peninsula, 569. 

Syrtis (Great), 44, 199. 

Sysler (shires), 222, 290. , 

Systerbiick (Sister brook), river, 442. 

Szamaithen, 380, 462. 

Szalad, comitat, 557. 

Szabolcz, comitat, 558. 

Szamos, river, 669. 

Szathmar, comitat, 658. 

Szeben, in Transylvania, 561. 

Szekes-Feijervar, comitat, 557. 
city, 562. 

Szafita, castle, 364. 

Szivas. See Sebaste. 

Szoghur (northern Syria), 204. 

Szolnok, comitat, 558. 

Szony (Bregetio), 47. 



T. 



Taasinge, island, 293. 

Taberistan, 209, 277. 

Tabira. See Tavira. 

Tabor, mount. In Palestine, 843. 

Tabor, mount, fortress in Bohemia, 515. 

Taborah. See Evora, 576. 

Tabriz (Gandax), 209. 

Tabsin (Tubbus), castle of, 364. 

Tacape (Kabes), 61. 

Taen.aron, promontory, 269, 358. 

Tafllelt, province, 645, 646. 

Tagines, battlefield of, 189. 

Tagliaeozzo, 422, 424. 

Tagus (Tajo), river, 255. 

Taheria, in Kliowaresm, 276. 

Talavera, 590. 

Tallaght (Ireland), 429. 

Tamesis (Thames), river, 78. 

Tamora (Teamor, Trim), 100. 

Tamworth, 221. 

Tana. See Azof 

Tanaro, river, 412. 

Tancred's castle, at Antioch, 846. 

Tangier (Tingis), 65, 128, 568, 578, 582, 

589. 
Tangut, SS6. 

Tannenberg, battle of. 383, 384, 448, 453. 
Tarabesonda. See Trebizond. 
Tarabolos (Tripolis), in Syria, 204, 213. 845. 
Tarantaise, county of, 889, 413. 
Tarbes, 242, 478. 

bishopric of, 891. 
Tarcza. river, 562. 
Tarifa, 691, 603. 
Tarnus (Tarn), river, 242. 
Tarouca, 684. 

Tarraeonensis, provincia, 66. 
Tarragona, Tarraco, 66, 124, 184. 

archbishopric, 600. 
Tarrazona, 595. 
Tarrentum (Taranto), 57, 130, 163, 247. 251. 

270, 322, 014. 
Tarsus, 14, 266, 327, 349. 
Tartas, viscounty, in Normandy, 481. 
Taruenna (Therouanne), 114. 
Tarusa, principality, 458. 
Tarvisium (Treviso), duchy of, 162. 
Tatta, salt-lake in Caramania, 266 631. 
Taunus, mount, in Nassau, 637. 
Tauresion (Giustendil), 85, 139. 
Taurid, peninsula. See Crimea. 
Taurinum (Turin), duchy of, 152. 
Taurus, mount, 14. 204, 266, 386, 849. 
Tauss, battle of. 515. 
Tavasthuus, castle, 442. 
Tavastland, 801, 442. 
Tavira, 677. 
Tay, river, 287. 
Tavgetus, mount, 196, 269. 
Tchernigov, principality, 226, 802. 
Teamor '(Tamora). 100, 219. 
Teate, gastaldate of, 152. 

marquisate, 322. 

archiepiscopaoy, 617. 
Teckclnburg, county, 542. 
Tee, river, 148. 
Teith, river, 287. 
Tejo, river, 574. 



GEOGEAPHICAL INDEX. 



231 



Tekiour Sctra'i (the palace Hebdomon), at 

Constantinople, 7, 633. 
Tekkleh (Tekk6) province, 628, 629. 
Tell-Baslier, castle of, 347. 
Tellemark, in Norway, 190, 223. 
Tell-Saflch (Blanche Garde), castlo-ruins, 

341. 
Tell's chapel, 552. 
Tell's Platte, 552. 
Telmissos. 267. 
Telos, isle, 267. 
Temes, comitat, 558. 
Temesvar, fortress, 562. 
Teinnitz, voivodat, 566. 
Temple (Order House) at Acre, 342. 

at Jernsalem, 839. 
at Lisbon, 579. 
at London, 434. 
at Paris, 464. 
Tenedos, island, 22, 351, 370, 371, 610. 
Tenna, castle, 608. 
Tenremonde, 497. 
Temolum, fortre.ss, 599. 
Teon, 265. 

Teplii'ike (Divrigni), fortress, 266. 
'I'erfa-Nabal, 582, 
Terdona (Tortona), 412. 
Terdschan, 631. 
Terek, river, 90, 639. 
Terga, in Africa, 582. 
TerKOvvischt, 570. 
Terni, bishopric, 616. 
Ternowa, 807, 569. 

Patriarchate, 571. 
Terra di Ban, 186. 
Terra di Cinarca, 610. 
Terra Comrmme, in Corsica, 610. 
Terra Fordana, 322. 
Terra Laboris (Capua), 822. 
Terracina (Anxur), 180, 322. 
bishopric in, 616. 
Territory of the Knights Sword Bearers, 

380. 
Teruel, fortress, in Aragon, 597. 
Teschen, 516. 
Tetuan, 582. 
Teviot, river, 288. 
Teviotdale, viscounty, 287. 
Tewkesbury, 434. 
Teza, in Morocco, 645. 
Thalassona, city in Thessaly, 373. 
Thannes, river, 73, 291. 
Thanais (Don), 76, 87, 451, 452, 460. 
Thanet (Euithina), island, 104. 
Thasos, island, 22, 351, 371, 610, 622. 
Thaumaka, 878. 
Thebais, province, 16. 
Thebes, in Egypt. 16. 
Thebes, capital and bishopric in Greece. 
QfjjLaTa, military division of the Byzan- 
tine Empire, 218, 262, 263, 270 (with ad- 
denda. Page 213). 
Thema ^geum Pelagns, 268. 
Anatolieum, 264. 
Anneniacum, 264, 374. 
Bucellariorum, "^65. 
Cappadocias, 266. (See addenda.) 
Cephallenia;, 270. 
ChaldL-e, 266, 324, 374. 
Charsianum, 266. (See addenda.) 
Chersonis, 270. 
Cihyrrhseotarum, 267. 
ColoniiE, 266. 
Creta (Eparchia), 268. 
Cypri, 267. 
Uyrrliachium, 270. 
Hellas, 269. 
Longobardiaa, 270. 
Lycandi, 273. 
Macodonite, 269. 
Mesopotamia?, 266. 
Nicopolis, 270. 
Obsequiam, 264, 324. 
Optimatum, 265, 324. 
Paphlagonum, 265, 324. 
Peloponnesus, 269. 
Sami Injjukie, 268, 234. 
Sebastian, 266. 
Seleuciic, 266. 
Siciliic, 270. 
Thessalonice, 269. 
Thracesiorurn, 264. 
Thracium, 269. 
Themiskyre, in Pontus, 374. 
Theodonis Villa (Thionville), 171. 
Theodosia (Caifa), 6, 92, 109«, 254. 
Theodosiopolis, 13, 266. 
Thera (Santorini), Island, 361. 
Therma, in Cappadocia, 266. 
Thermaic, gulf, 269. 
Thermia. See Kythnos. 
Thermopylae, 196. 

bishopric, 355. 
Therouanne (Taruenna), 114. 

bishopric, 390. 
Thessalonica (Saloniki), 37, 269, 372. 
Thessaly, 39, 169, 372, 373, 632. 
Thetmarsia (Ditmarsken), 377. 
Thibet, in Central Asia, 680. 
Tbingwellir, 299. 
Thionville, 497. 

Tholaithala (urbs Toletana, Toledo), 216. 
.Moorish province in Spain. 
216. 
Telmissos, 267. 
Thomar, castle, 574, 577, 579. 
Thone, river, 221. 
Thor, mountain, 201. 
Thorda, comitat, 559. 
Thorn, city, 382, 403, 449. 
Thouars, seigneury, 472. 
Thrace, 28, 80, 194, 269, 851, 618, 632. 
Thrond, in Norway, 190. 
Thuringer-Wald, forest, 120. 
Thulc (Norway or Iceland), 76. 
Thun, lake of, 549. 
'i'liur, river, 55-3, 
Thur-Alp.s, 549, 



TImrgau, in Souabia, 250, 395, 512, 548, 551. 
Thuringia (Thiiringen), kingdom, 120, 

145. 

duchy, 104, 247, 249. 
landgraviate, 390, 398, 518. 
Thurocz, comitat, 567. 
Thyatira, 264, 629. 
Thymbris, river, 297. 62S. 
Tiberias (Galilee), principality of, 343. 

lake of, 204. 
Tibet, in Central Asia, 385, 636. 
Tibiscus (Theiss), 33, 167. 
Tibur (Tivoli), 56. 
Tigris (Dldjfat) river, 3, 12, 96, 207, 261, 

266, 278, 631. 
Tiniok, river, 566. 
Timoritza, in Albania, 624. 
Tineh (Pelusium), 16. 
Tingis (Tangier), 65, 123, 568. 
Tilia (Dyle), river, 248. 
Tinchebray, battle of, 386. 
Tinia, valley, 55. 

Tinmal, fortress of the Almohads, 646. 
Tinos, island, 359. 
Tirazona, bishopric, 600. 
Ties, in Asia Minor, 374. 
Tipperary, (county), 283. 
Tivoli (Tibur), 56. 

bishopric, 616. 
Tlemsen, kingdom, 428, 642, 644. 
Tmolus, mount, 21. 
Tmutara-Kan (Motercha), on the Black 

Sea, 226. 
Todi, bishopric, 616. 
Tonsberg, 297. 
Torzburg-Pass, 562. 
Toggenburg, county, 548. 
Tolbiacum (Zulpicli), 110. 
Tokat, in Asia Minor, 374, 631. 
Tokay, in Hungary, 558. 
Tokharestan, 275. 

Toledo (Toletum), 124, 316, 5S8, 590, 593. 
Tolna, comitat, 557-. 
Tollenburg, on the Leitha, 314. 
Tolosa (Toulouse), 112. 
Tolosa (Spain), plain of, 587, 591. 
Tolosanus Pagus (district of Toulouse), 147. 
Tombs of the Kings of Jerusalem, 339. 
Tomi (Tomis, on the Pontus, 81, 269. 
Tondern, 294. 
Tnnn6re, county, 289, 506. 
Toplicza, river, 506. 
Torcello, 60S. 
Tordesillas, 590. 
Torna, comitat, 558. 
Tornacum (Tournay), 114. 
Tornesse, convent, in Westmoreland, 433. 
Toro, 558, 592. 
Torellas, fortress, 597. 
Torontal, comitat, 558. 
Torrelobaton, 590. 
Torres Novas, 581. 
Torres Vedras, 581. 
Tortona, 405, 412, 609. 
Tortosa, in Catalonia, 184, 318, 334, 597. 
Tortosa, In Syria, 345. 
Toron (Tibni'n), castle of, 344. 
Toth-Orszaa (Syrmia), 559. 
Toul (Tullum), in Lorraine, 24S, 503, 529. 

bishopric, 401. 
Toulon, 244, 309, 892. 
Toulouse, county of, 112, 243, 470, 493. 

archbishopric, 392, 510. 
Touraine, principality of, 387, 898, 465, 

492, 502. 
Tournay (Tornacum), 114. 
bishopric of. 390. 
Tours (Turones), 70, 111, 181, 235, 465. 
Tower-hill of London, 434. 
Tower on the Fleet-ditch (Temple-Bar), 

291. 
Tower of Constantino, in Loudon, 291. 
Toxandria (Brabant), 71. 
Tragarium. See Trau. 
Trai'na, on Mount E(na, 322. 
Trajanopolis, 30, 269. 
Tralles, 268. 
Trani, 822, 607. 
Trans-Tibiscan Circle, 557. 
Trans-Danubian Circle, 557. 
Transylvania (Siebenburgen), 33, 314, 556, 

559, 560. 
Trapani, 599. 

Trapezus. See Trebizond. 
Tras-os-Montes, province, 580. 
Trau, 168, 314, 823. 
Trave, river, 295. 
Traversaria, county, 422. 
Trawnick, 635. 
Trebizond (Trapezus), 20a 

empire of, 851, 368, 874, 626. 
Trec-E (Troyes), 117. 
Treguier, in Brittany, 470. 

bishopric, 390. 
Trentcsin, comitat, 557. 
lYeves (Treveri), city, 71, 117, 171, 246, 

894, 509, 513. 

archbishopric, 401. 
Treviso, 405, 411, 414, 607. 
Trevoux, castle, 500. 
Trezzo (Tritium), castle, 408. 
Triaditza (Sardica), 84. 
Triaditza (Sofia), 867. 
Triaditza (Sternitza), 824. 
Trianda, on Ehodes, 628. 
Tribees, city of, 878. 

Triclinium {XuKkti), in Constantinople, 7. 
Tricomarum, 140. 
Tridentum (Trent), duchy, 152. 

county, 252, 414. 
Trikke, in Thessaly, 269, 378. 
Trim, in Ireland, 100. 
Trimythos (Cyprus), 267. 
Trinacria (Sicily), kingdom, 599. 
Trlpolitana, province, 61. 
Tripolis ((Ea), in Africa, 61, 383, 643. 
Tripoliii, in Pontus, 374. 
Tripiilis, in Syria, principality, 336, 845, 

3U'.J. 



Tripolitza (Teaea), 684. 

Trivigho, district, 407. 

Trocznow, castle, 515. 

Troki, province, 452. 

Trondhjem, in Norway, 219, 296, 443. 

Tronto, river. 322. 

Troyes, capital, 117, 468, 4S9. 

bishopric of, 891. 
Trois-Chateaux, bishopric, 392. 
TrnjlUo, 590. 

Trullus, in Constantinople, 7. 
Tschorli. See Tzurulum. 
Tshagatai (Thibet), 885, 637. 
Tudela, 818, 834, 601. 
Tiibingen, 528. 
Tula, city, 458. 
Tuldsha, 569. 
Tuin, on the Danube, 524. 
Tun, castle, 364. 

Tunis of the Zeirids, 259, 822, 642, 643. 
Tunkin, 686. 
Turan (Szibir), 688. 
Turbassel (castte), 347. 
Turenne, viscounty of. 289, 492. 
Turin (Taurinum), 411. 

archbishopric, 617. 
Turkistan, 270, 687. 
Turo, river, 568. 
Turones (Tours), 70, 111, 147. 
Tnropolia, district, 568. 
Turres, province of, 823. 
Turris Stratonis, 11. 
Tuscia Eomana, 422. 
Tuscan Sea, 247. 
Tuscany (Tuscia), 35, 152, 185, 252, 405, 

606, 612. 
Tuster, in .Khusistan, 211. 
Tuy, bishopric, 593. 
Tuz-Tcholli, lake, 630. 
Tweed, river, 148, 288. 
Twer, principality, 803. 
Twertza, river, 385. 
Tyana, in Cappadocia, 20, 266. 
Tymotikon, 353. See Dimolika. 
Tyne (Abus), river, 73. 
Typarenos (Spetza), island, 359. 
Tyras (Dnieper), 83. 
Tyrbe (sepulchre) of Salah-ed-Din, 305. 
Tyrus (Sour), 11, 344. 
Tyrol, county, 399, 517, 525. 
Tyrone, in Ireland, 429. 
Tzernngora, in the Morea, 196. 
Tzurulum, city of Thrace, 353, 632. 
Tzycanisterium, in Constantinople, 7. 
Tzympe, castle, 632. 

U. 

Ubeda, 587. 

Uclis, in Sp.ain, 317. 

Udine (Forum Julii), 187. 

Udoria (Biarmoland), 459. 

Udvarhely, disti-ict, 553. 

Udward, council of, 571. 

Uechtland, in Burgundy, 246. 

Uglitch, principality, 458. 

Ugosz, comitat, 558. 

Ugria, 253, 456, 638. 

tJkermark, 517. 

TJkraina, 451. 

Ulm, republic, 544. 

Ulpiana (Tauresion), 35. 

Ulpia Trajana, 83. 

Ulster (Ultouia), 100, 219. 

Umbria (Picenum Suburbicarium), 55. 

Papal territory, 613. 
TJmbrone, river, 252. 
Umeaa, city, 441. 
Ungannia, province, 377. 
XJngarovlachia, 571. 
Ung-Var, 562. 
TJnghvar, comitat, 55S. 
Unua, river, 824. 
Unstrut, river, 120, 164. 
Unterwalden, canton, 400, 549. 
Upland, in Norway, 190. 

in Sweden, 225, 440. 
Upsala, 106, 212. 

archiepiscopacy, 439. 
Urbino, archiepiscopacy, 617. 
Urgel, county of, 243, 597. 
Uri, canton, 400, 549. 
Uriel (Louth), county of, 283. 
Urrea, county, 597. 
Uskup (Scupi), 35. 
Ussora, province, 565. 
Ustjusna, principality, 458. 
Utica (Porta Farina), 60. 
Utrecht (Ultrajectum), 248. 

bishopric, 400. 
Uzeda, 590. 
Uzes, in Provence, 498. 

bishopric, 392. 
Uxkull, on the Duna, 377. 

V. 

Vabres, bishopric, 510. 

Vacen. Sea Waitzen. 

V-adum (Vez), 233. 

Vagria, province, 377. 

Vaison, bishopric, 892. 

Yal Levantina, 609. 

Valad al Abiad, 604. 

Valad al Ahmar, 604. 

Valais (Wallis), 246. 

Val d'Aosta, county of, 246. 

Val d'Agrigento, 599. 

Val d'Arno, 415, 416. 

Val Gratis, province in Calabria, 322. 

Val di Chiana, 415, 416, 420, 

Val di Demona, 599. 

Val d'Elsa, 416. 

Val di Greba, 416. 

Val di Mazzara, 599. 

Val di Nievole, 416, 420. 

Val di Noto, 599. 



Val di Pesa, 416. 

Val dl Pisa, 420. 

Valko, comitat, 559. 

Val di Sesia, 009. 

Valencia (kingdom), 216, 281, 820, 69S. 

Valenciennes, in Hiiinaut, 467, 497. 

Valence, bishopric of, 892. 

- city on the Ehone, 246, 498, 
Valenia, castle of the Assassins, 864. 
Valentia (Scottish Lowlands), 73. 
Valeria, in Pannonia, 45. 
Valeria, in Italy, 56. 
Valeria Via, 56. 
Valespir, seignory, 598. 
Valladolid, 588, 590, 592, 593. 
Valley of King^verre, 297. 
Vallis Augustana, valley of Aosta, 155. 
Vallis Beatae Maria?, monastery, 390. 
Vallis Clara, monastery, 390. 
Vallis Lffita, monastery of, 891. 
Vallis Lucida, monastery, 391. 
Vallis Oleti. See Valladolid. 
Vallis Segusiana (Sensana), defile of Susa, 

on Mount Cenis, 155. 
Vallombrosa, convent, 420. 
Vallum Antonini, 78. 
Valltmi Iladriani (Picts' Wall), 8, 73. 
Valois, county of, 288, 888, 393, 488, 494. 

duchy, 488. 
Valverde, 592. 
Vandalic kingdom, 184. 
Vandalos (Bsetica), 65. 
Vannes (Venedi Castrum), 111, 470. 

bishopric o^ 390. 
Vaprio, castle, 408. 
Varactum (Gueret), capital, 289. 
Varani, county, 422. 
Varch-Bosna, bishopric, 571. 
Varna, battlefield of, 569, 625. 
Varosch, province, 56.5. 
Varsava, in the Morea, 196. 
Vasag-Pass, 559. 
Vasconia (Gascony), 68, 188. 
Vaseongadas, See Biscaya. 
Vassi, district, 388. 
Vasvar, comitat, 557. 
Vaucluse, 613. 
Vaucouleur, 486. 

Vaud (Pays de), county, 246, 413, 551. 
Vaudemont, county, 484, 542. 
Vectis (Wight), island, 104. 
Veldenz, county, 52. 
Velez-el-Blanco, 604. 
Velez-Malaga, 604. 
Velez-el-Eubio, 604, 
Veletri, bishopric, 616. 
Yeligosti, Sclavonic city in the Morea, 269. 
barony, 357. 
bishopric, 357. 
Venafro, in Lower Italy, 822. 
Venaissin, county, 502, 506, 613. 
Vence, bishopric of, 892. 
Vendic kingdom, 227, 281, 296. 
Vendila (Vendsyssel), 82. 
Vendland. See Slavia. 
Venedi Castrum (Vannes), 111. 
Venedocia (Gwynedb), 103. 
Venddme, county, 238. 
Venetia, province, 52. 
Venetian Empire, 336. 
Venice, 52, 153, 187. 

duchy and republic, 271, 323, 411, 
414, 606, 607, 618, 622. 
Venosa, county, 322. 
Ventimiglia, 216, 610. 
Venus' Temple at Paphos, 350. 
Verbas, river, 565. 
Verberia (Verberie), 181. 
Vercelli, 412, 418. 
Verden, bishopric, 401. 
Verdun, city of Lorraine, 228, 248, 503. 

bishopric, 401, 529. 
Veres-Torony-Pass, 562. 
Vermandois, county, 233, 388, 393, 496. 
Verneuil, 490. 
Verocze, comitat, 559. 
Verona, city of, 52, 180, 185, 811, 405. 

defiles of, 398. 

march of, 252. 
Vertus, county, 488. 
Yerulamium (St. Albans), 73. 
Vervitza, in the Morea, 196, 
Vesontio (Besancon). 71. 
Vesprim, bishopric, 571. 

comitat, 557 
Vevay (Vivis), 41.3. 
Vexin, county of, 28.5, 306, 388. 
Viana, 580. 

Viborg, in Finnland, 442. 
Viborg (Viburgum), in Jutland, 222, 294. 
Vic-le-Comte, in La Tour d'Auvergne, 501. 
Vicenza (Vicetia), .52. 

Lombard Duchy, 152. 

Eepublic, 405, 411, 414, 607. 
Victoria, 257. 
Vienna (Vindobona), on the Danube. 47 

90, 399, 524. 
Vienna, on the Ehone, 69, 119, 246, 465. 
Viennensis, 69. 

Viinland (coast of Ehode Island), 224, 298. 
Viken, district in Norway, 223. 
Vilaine, river, 470. 
Vilitza, in the Morea, 196. 
Vlllach, 178, 526. 
Villa do Infante, 582. 
Villa Eeal, in Portugal, 575, 582. 
Villars, seigneury ot; 389. 
Villa-Viposa, 584. 
Viminacium (Gradistie), 34. 
Vincennes, near Paris, 464. 
Vindius Mens, 217. 
Vineta (Wollin), 107. 
Vintonia (Winchester), bishopric, 433, 
Vireley, battlefield, near Nancy, 509. 
Virland, province, 377. 
Vire, city in Normandy, 490. 
Virodonum (Verdun), 248. 
Virunum (near Klagenfurth), 48, 



232 



GEOaHAPHICAL INDEX. 



Visbye, on Gothland, 8S0, 444, 645. 
Viscaya (Biscay), 257, 313, 58S. 
VisciU, city, 316, 5S0, 5S4, 5S5. 
Visliabouf, capital of Khorasan, 329. 
Visi-Gothic kingdom, 123, 124, 125. 
Vislica, city of, 312. 
Visurgis (Weser), 80, 163. 
Vistuliv, river, 76, 87, 90, 91, ISS, 191, 250 

812, 379, 382, 449. 
Vitai Schola, abbey in Jutland, 294. 
Viterbo, bishopric, 616. 
Vitylo (Oitylos), in the Maina, 196. 
Vitten, fishing colonies of the Hanse, 545. 
A'iviers, bishopric of, 892. 
Vivis (Vevav), 413. 
Vodablo, city, 601. 
Vogesus Mons (Vosges), 155. 
Vohringen, 541. 

Voivodats (provinces) of Poland, 449. 
Volga (Eha), 87, 88, 89, 90, 108, 109, 191, 

226, 253, 254, 302, 304, 315, 329, 835, 456, 

458, 460, 638. 
Volhynia, 802. 
Volkan-Pass, 559. 
Volo (lolkos), city of, 873. 
Volterra, 415. 
Vostizza, barony, 857, 607. 
Vrandouk, fortress, 635. 
Vulturniis, river, 186. 
Vocladensis Campus (Vouillo), 115. 
Vytitza, in Morea, 358. 



W. 

Waadt (Pay de Vaud), 246, 418, 551. 

Waczow. See Waitzen. 

Wadstena, nunnery in Sweden, 439. See 

addenda. 
Wady-Ana (Guadiana), 65. 
Wady-Ara, 604. 
"Wady-Asch (Guadix), 604. 
Wady-Celito, 591. 
Wady-Darali, 646. 
Wady-al-Ete (Guadaelte), 215. 
Wady-al-Jora, 004. 
Wady-al-Kebir (Guadalquiveir), 55. 
Wady-Musa, 11, .342. 
"Woermeland, in Sweden, 224, 440. 
Wie.tlinga Strcede, 221, 289. 
Wagria, in Ilolstein, 82. 
Waiblingen (Viblinga), castle of, 897. 
Waitzen, bishopric, 371. 
Wakefield, battle of, 434. 
Waldburg, county, 542. 
Waldeck, county, 542. 
WaldstiUlte (Forest Cantons), 523, 54S. 
Wale (Valdun), city, 474. 
Wales, kingdoms of. 103, 143, 432. 
Wallachia, principality, 814, 570, 635. 
Wallachia (Great), duchy of, 363, 873. 
Wallacho-Bulgarian Kingdom, 363, 367. 
Wallis (Valais"), county, 246, 551. 
Walls of Agricola. 73. 

Hadrian,' 3, 73. 

Anastasius, 137, 625. 

Belisarius, 139. 
Wan, lake of, 627. 

Waroeger SCe (Baltic), 222, 227. Addenda. 
Wnrasdin, comitat, 559. 



Warasdin, fortress, 562. 

Warbola, ruins of. 377. 

Warmia, on the Vistula, bishopric, 449. 

Warsawa, city, 812. 

princip.tlity, 449. 
Wartburg, castle, 519. 
Wartenstein, castle, 449. 
Washes of Lynn Regis, 434. 
Wasit, city, on the Tigris, 274. 
Waterfalls of the Dnieper, 226, 264, 315. 
Waterford, coimty, 219, 283. 
AVater-town of Belgi'ade, 566. 
Wedel, 517. 

Weibertreu, castle, 397. 
Weil, 52S. 
Weilburg, 537. 

Weinland, district in Transylvania, 559. 
Weinsberg, 397. 

Weissenburg, in Transylvania, 33, 258, 559. 
Welfesholz, battle of, 310. 
Welflc territories, 395. 
Wells, bishopric, 433. 
Wener, lake of, 223. 
Werdenberg, castle and county, 548, 551, 

553. 
Wereja, principality, 438. 
Werle, principality of, 377, 534. 
Werrah, river, 109. 
Wertheim, 542. 
Wesel, 403. 
Weser (Visurgis). 80. 
Wessex (West Saxonia), 104. 
Wester-Bottn, 441. 
West Gothland, 301, 439. 
Westeraas, bishopric, 439. 
Westermanland, 440. 
Westfold, district in Norway, 190. 
West Friesland, 497. 
Westmanna-Land, 225. 
Westminster Abbey, London, 433, 434. 
Westminster Cathedral (the Saxon), 291. 
Westminster Hall, London, 434. 
Westminster Palace, 434. 
Westmoreland, 103, 286, 131. 
Westphalia, 398. 

duchy, 513. 
West Seaxas (West Saxonia), 104. 
Westria (Neustria), 146. 
West-Wold, in Schleswig, 80. 
Wetter, lake of, 223. 
Wcttin, 519. 
Wexford, 219, 283. 
Wexio, bishopric, 439. 
Whale Fishery of the Saxons, 290. 
Whitehall, London, 434. 
White Mountain, battle of, 520. 
White Russia, 452. 
White Sea, 87, 226. 
Wiiitka, principality, 302. 

republic, 460. 
Wiasma, city, 456. 
Wiborg, 801. 
Widdin, 568, 635. 
Wied, county, 542. 
Wieliczka, 450. 
Wielun, province, 449. 
Wien. See Vienna. 
Wiener Wald, 524. 
Wieselburg, comitat, 557. 
Wigorn (Worcester), bishopric, 433. 



Wigton (Hwiterne), in Galloway, suffragan 

of Glasgow, 287. 
Wiken, district in Norway, 190. 
Wileika, city, 452. 
Wilja, river, 384, 452. 
Wilna, province, 452. 
bishopric, 449. 
city, 452. 
Winchester, 289, 291, 433. 
Winchiligo (county of Wicklow), 429. 
Windisch, 548. 
Windsor Castle, 434. 
Winloch, monastery, 433. 
Winterthur, 552. 
Wipper, river, 532. 
Wisbaden, 536. 

Wisbye, city in Gothland, 301, 880, 408, 444. 
Wismar, 408, 534. 
Wisherad, 455. See Wissehrad. 
Wissehrad, in Bohemia, 515. 
Wissegrad, fortress in Hungary, 253, 562. 
Wissigradi ClAra, castle, 562. 
Wissera. See Visurgis. 
Witepsk, province, 452. 
Wittgenstein, county, 542. 
Wizlica, 446, 450. 

Wlachia (Blachia). See Macedonia, 269. 
Wladimir, ancient capital of Russia, 451, 

357. 
Wladimir, principality, 458. 

(Susdal), principality, 303. 
Wlaslaw, province, 449. 
Wlodomirz, principality, 302. 
Wolgast, 517, 535. 
Wolhynia, 451. 
Wolkof. river, 304. 

Wollin (.Julin), Vendic town, 295, 377. 
Wolmar, battlefield of, 877. 
Wolok, principality, 458. 
Wordingborg, 293. 
Worms (Wormacia), 71, 171, 309, 400, 544, 

547. 

archbishopric, 249, 401. 
Wartemberg. county of. 399 

duchy, 522, 528. 
Wurzburg (Wirceburg), bishopric, 172,'249, 

399, 401. 
Wyden, in Berne, 553. 



Xainctes (Saintes), 472. 

Xanthos, 267. 

Xativa, 320. 

Xelves, 320. 

Xenil, river, 604. 

Xeres de Badajoz, 591. 

Xeres de los Caballeros, 576. 

Xeres de la Frontera, 197, 591, 603. 

Xerigordon, 827. 

Xucar, 820. 



Tafa (Joppe), 342. 

Tata (Pilgrims) Gate at Jerusalem, ; 

Talk (Oural) river, 90. 

Yadra (Jadera). See Zara, 260. 



Yar-Hiss'r, castle, 627, 628. 

Yassy, capital, 570. 

Yatreb (Yiitrippa). See Medinah, 201. 

Yelves. See Elvas. 

Yemamah, in central Arabia, 203. 

Yemen, in Ar.abia Fcli.x, 200. 

Yeni Shehr (Neapolis), 628. 

Yermuk (Hjeromas), river, 204 

Yerne, river, 143. 

Yla (Isla), island, 286. 

Ymes (lemes), in Finnland, 301. 

Yonne (Icauna), river, 70, 238. 

York (Eboracum), 73. 

Yssel, river, 173. 

Ysselmonde, 497. 

Yverdun, 551. 



Zabulistan (Afghanistan), 212, 275, 826. 
Zacchaeus, castle at Jericho, 840. 
Zadaica, castle, 599. 
Zagora, comitat, 559. 
Zagrab. See Agram. 

comitat, 559. ' 

Ziihringen, county of, 389, 543. 
Zahara, castle, 604. 
Zakynthos. See Zante. 
Zalaca, 316, 334, 576. 
Zamora, 25.5, 816, 588. 
Zampullo, 599. 

Zante (Zakynthos), 269, 860, 621. 
Zara Vecchia. See Belograd. 
Zara (Yadra), 260, 314, 328, 563, 60T. 
Zaragoza, 257, 818, 384, 597. 
Zarand, comitat, 558. 
Zarmizegethusa, 33. 
Zaslav (Wileika), 226. 
Zator, principality, 450. 
Zealand, county, 485, 497. 
Zehnte (division of the Gauen), 118. 
Zeituni (Lamia), 378. 
Zemplin, comitat, 558. 
Zengh, county, 568. 
Zenta, province, 868. 

principality, 56.5, 566, 624, 
Zephyrion, in Pontus, 374 
Zerbst, 536. 
Zezere, castle, 579. 
Zia (Keos), island of, 359. 
Zicks (Zckhi), 92. 
Ziller-Thal, in Tyrol, 527. 
Zingana, in Pontus, 374 
Zintiras. See Cintra. 
Zion, mount, 338. 
Zips, comitat, 450, 558, 560. 
Znaym, 516. 
Zofingen, 52.3. 
Zolth, comitat, 557. 
Zriny, county, 563. 
Zutphen, county, .^42. 
Ziirich, city, 400, 548, 549. 
Zurichgau, in Souabia, 250. 
Zug, canton, 549. 

Zupania, districts in Sclavonia, 107. 
Zuyder-Sea, 497. 
Zweibriicken (Deux Fonts), 520. 
Zwing-TJri, castle of Gessler, 552. 
Zwornick, fortress In Bosnia, 865. 



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